The Business of Tennis

The Business of Tennis

Nothing in Antonioni’s Blow-Up is as memorable as the tennis game played without a ball while Thomas, the hero of the film, looks on. The camera tracks the mimes who play their ghostly game and when Thomas retrieves the imaginary ball that has gone out of court and throws it back to the players, we are delighted by the wit of the gesture. Tennis observed as a purely visual phenomenon becomes a geometry of motion, an aesthetic experience. It is a dance that symbolizes the sport i...