The Red Desert
1964
RED DESERT (IL DESERTO ROSSO) is a post-industrialist masterpiece from director Michelangelo Antonioni. His first film in colour, it stars Monica Vitti as Giuliana, the disturbed wife of a factory owner, Ugo (Carlo Chionetti). Antonioni creates a bleak environment of the Italian countryside, where the natural landscape .. Read more
| Starring | Monica Vitti, Richard Harris, Carlo Chionetti |
|---|---|
| Director | Michelangelo Antonioni |
| Genres | World Cinema |
loading...
The Red Desert
RED DESERT (IL DESERTO ROSSO) is a post-industrialist masterpiece from director Michelangelo Antonioni. His first film in colour, it stars Monica Vitti as Giuliana, the disturbed wife of a factory owner, Ugo (Carlo Chionetti). Antonioni creates a bleak environment of the Italian countryside, where the natural landscape surrounding Ugo's factory is shrouded in fog and pollution. The low scratching and churning sound of the factory machines is a constant throughout the film, set off by the electronic beeps and strange female singing that Giuliana--who is losing her mind--hears in her head. Supposedly recovering from shock after a minor car accident, Giuliana's dementia isn't getting any better; new developments in technology, production, and industry--which fascinate Ugo and his business associate, Corrado (Richard Harris)--are foreign and threatening to Giuliana. However, Ugo is gentle and loving to Giuliana, giving her the freedom to wander wherever her fragile psyche leads her. Corrado is inexplicably drawn to Giuliana and he develops a desperate, awkward friendship with her that eventually leads to a small affair. In the end, the dank monotony of the port where they live only alienates Giuliana further, sending her deeper into her delirium. A cold and haunting film with grating sound effects and odd visuals that illustrate Giuliana's psychosis, RED DESERT is an Antonioni standout that stays in the viewer's mind long after the movie ends.
| Starring | Monica Vitti, Richard Harris, Carlo Chionetti |
|---|---|
| Director | Michelangelo Antonioni |
| Studio | BFI |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 52 mins Blu-ray: 1 hr 57 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | World Cinema |
| Language | DVD: Italian Blu-ray: Italian |
| Subtitles | DVD: English Blu-ray: English |
| Released | DVD: 27 Oct 2008 Blu-ray: 27 Oct 2008 Production year: 1964 |
| Format | DVD |
-
Critics' reviews (3)
View all -
Michelangelo Antonioni's “trilogy of urban alienation” (L'Avventura, La Notte and Eclipse) made him an art house darling. But by the time of The Red Desert, Antonioni had almost exhausted his theme and simply rehashed it in colour, taking his symbolism to artistic extremes as streets are repainted and a room changes hue. The story, though, is opaque — Monica Vitti plays a manic depressive who sleeps with her husband's friend (Richard Harris). Vitti is, as ever, convincingly neurotic, but Harris is totally miscast, dubbed and barely a presence. While Antonioni deserves praise for being prescient in his warning of the danger of industrial pollution, most viewers will regard this as pretentious twaddle, no matter how beautiful the photography. This is a movie by a director who has come to believe his own press.
-
Elongated character study, very talkative but rather decoratively designed with the same subtle use of colour in an urban landscape as was seen later in Blow Up.
-
Most helpful member's review
View all -
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful
Brilliant but not for all
This is the fourth Antonioni film I have seen, and it is yet again a brilliant exploration of people's relationships with each other and their surroundings. This time round Antonioni examines the fragile grip his protagonist has on her own sanity and the effect this has on those around her. Her mind frame is echoed by the film's use of noises, garish colour and desolate locations. Antonioni also shows us the changing times of the world and its effects by showing the new noisy overpowering factories juxtaposed with the decrepid older buildings and the damage the modernity is doing to nature. Will certainly be considered dull by some viewers, but fans of Antonioni will find much to enjoy here.
-
Most recent members' review
View all -
[Highly rated reviewer]
Urban waste
Monica Vitti plays a fairly irritating, too-sensitive-to-live, female role with similarities to that of Vanessa Redgrave in Blowup. In this case, she has suffered from some type of dissociation of identity following a car accident. She now rolls around like a loose cannon on a rather empty deck of executives and their wives in industrial Bologna. There is probably a symbolism at work here, but it is not compelling. However, like Blowup, strangely watchable.
-
More like this
View all
Related user collection
They Shoot Pictures, Don't They Greatest 1000 Films... (321)
79.2% from 13 members
by:
Tolis
from Kent