Released in 1970, Zabriskie Point was the great Italian director Michelangelo Antonioni’s attempt to make the definitive film about both America and the counterculture. While most critics feel that Antonioni failed on both counts, it is also generally agreed that he captured some beautiful images of an America struggling to definite itself culturally.
The film ends with one of Antonioni’s most iconic images as hippie-turned-revolutionary Daria Halprin watches as her lover’s house explodes. Is what Daria sees real or is she just fantasizing about the end of capitalism? Antonioni leaves the answer up to the viewer.
Through the Shattered Lens 
So often when I think about this film, I go back to the fact that James Caan hates it…a lot. Not surprising when you consider how badly it conflicts with his own view of the world. But let’s read what the actor himself said:
“It was the worst fucking – and I have to curse because there is no other way that I can express myself – picture that I ever saw. I got so angry about it. I was in love with a girl. We went to the movie and it ended the whole affair. He [Michelangelo Antonioni] hired cardboard, the worst actors, and it was a conscious effort – that’s what pissed me off.”
I admit the film isn’t for every taste, but personally, I think it’s a good film. The acting isn’t the reason why one goes to see this movie. I took something away from the movie, it’s obviously a commentary about consumerist culture and youthful rebellion against bourgeois values. But it’s also one of those films that one can enjoy and completely miss the point of it all, simply because it does have some striking visuals, chiefly the copulating couples in the desert and the above-mentioned “explosion” montage.
I do wonder if Caan’s date absolutely loved the movie and they had a big dispute about it. By the way, I would never ditch a gal just because she liked a movie that I didn’t. Playing with her mobile telephone while the movie’s playing, that’s a different story.
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