Carlo Di Palma dies at 79

Leon Rodriguez · July 12, 2004

Italian cinematographer Carlo Di Palma died Friday after a series of illnesses at home in his native Rome. He was 79. Di Palma, whose career was forged in the post-World War II era of Italian cinema, collaborated on films with the most famous Italian directors -- from Michelangelo Antonioni, for whom he shot "Blowup" (1966), "The Red Desert" (1963) and "The Identification of a Woman," (1982) -- to Bernardo Bertolucci, Ettore Scola, Roberto Rossellini and Roberto Benigni. Di Palma's pioneering work on "Blowup" is widely considered a historic contribution to color cinematography. Once established, Di Palma served as the director of photography on nearly a dozen American movies for director Woody Allen, including "Hannah and Her Sisters," "Bullets Over Broadway," "Deconstructing Harry" and "Everyone Says I Love You." (Peter Kiefer and Sheigh Crabtree)

Mitch Gross · July 12, 2004

"Blow Up" is a seminal work. For one quick driving shot, they had a building painted bright red and a grassy field spray painted green (it wasn't naturally green enough!) just so they would boldly contrast with the blue sky in deep primary colors. Lasts on screen maybe three seconds.