This article refers to the 1970 movie 'Zabriskie Point'. For the soundtrack album see Zabriskie Point (album); for the natural monument, see Zabriskie Point.
Zabriskie Point is a
1970 film by
Michelangelo Antonioni that depicts some aspects of the
U.S. counterculture movement in the late 1960s. It tells the story of a young couple — an idealistic, free spirited young woman, and an aspiring radical turned fugitive. They meet in the desert under bizarre circumstances, instantly connect with a fearless spirit, and then part with tragic consequences. When the fugitive dies in an attempt to reconcile his minor transgressions with the police his new-found lover's connection to the corporate and government establishment is psychologically and permanently severed when she visualizes the home of her corporate lover/boss exploding in slow motion.
The
cult film stars
Mark Frechette and
Daria Halprin, neither of whom had any previous acting experience. The screenplay was written by Antonioni, fellow Italian filmmaker
Franco Rossetti, American playwright
Sam Shepard, prolific screenwriter
Tonino Guerra and
Clare Peploe, wife of
Bernardo Bertolucci. The film was the second of three English-language films that Antonioni had been contracted to direct for producer
Carlo Ponti and to be distributed by
MGM. The other two films were
Blowup (
1966) and
The Passenger (
1975).