Is Blow-Up a historical representation of the Mod scene? A satirical criticism? The answer matters less than anything that happens in this film. The Mod vanities are quickly redundant, very weak, and fail to make this supposedly attractive pull of no responsibility sympathetic. And yet, for all of this empty hedonism, 10 minutes focused on a cameo by The Yardbirds shows Michelangelo Antonioni is clearly in love with it. Conveying lifelessness doesn’t mean your film has to be lifeless. Every theme’s a contradiction.