i have to admit i have always find it difficult to watch an antonioni film from start to finish at the first try and and even for this one and i end up watch it in three part on repeated occasion . in the end and i realise perhaps it be well that way and because it force me to stop thinking in the usual term of plot and just enjoy the scene one by one . the first part seem a lot more fragmentary and which be not a bad thing and it just require more of an effort to follow . when it get to the desert scene and all effort be repay in full . the stunning cinematography be only a part of it and what really make it all unforgettable be how the landscape be make into an overwhelming presence and the silence and vastness of it and the sense of sadness and freedom and the way it fuse and contrast with the two young character . the desert be dead and but at the same time it feel less distant and alien than the urban scene in the first part . the dance between the airplane fly over and the girl car make for a series of great shot . the love scene in the desert be simply beautiful and it be hard to imagine this kind of approach from a film of our time . there be of course something very stylish and study about them and but at the same time they manage to express a sense of natural and spontaneous innocence that be very rare these day . it all feel loose and unscripted ( thanks also to the understated acting ) and but that be the result of a maniacal attention to detail and form and which come to it climax in the series of explosion at the end and a really mesmerising spectacle . it just leave you in awe . i do not really care for some the usual objection represent bore well and yes and it be and if you want all film to follow a classic plot development and be pack with action twist and but then if all cinema be like that and that would be truly dull and sad while pretentious maybe and but when that kind of ambitiousness be couple with actual skill and depth and and style and pretentious be a compliment . the political criticism make the least sense to me and i do not see the point of approach a film like this with ideological blinder or bad and patriotic requirement . it just defeat the purpose . perhaps it true that and like a previous commenter remark and antonioni view these young hippy and the politics of protest and riot with the police with the fascination of a foreigner and but i think that add something rather than detract from the film . it not true that hippy do not exist in italy at the time ( think of the 68 protest and like in france ) and although they be obviously different from the american counterpart and in some way even more militant . but his interest in this film be not narrowly political . the event seem more like a pretext for a film whose appeal have a universal and timeless quality . a special mention for the fantastic soundtrack . amongst other thing and this film and along with easy rider and be probably one of the main early precursor of the contemporary artsy music video as well a the concept of a film soundtrack that would stand on it own and but unlike the former and it use music in a much more subtle way and blend it with the landscape rather than the action . if you want traditional narrative in a film and then do not bother . if you want to be stun and be patient and you would not regret it .