Michelangelo Antonioni is a divisive auteur and I can understand why some people don’t like him – wealthy people being bored in slow narratives where nothing much happens. But I really like L’Eclisse and The Passenger as absorbing portraits of alienation. Red Desert (1964; Il deserto rosso) was advertised as Antonioni’s first film in colour, and it is interesting to see how he uses colour so deliberately and so strongly designed. But bright colours are minimal and stand out, a little obscured, in the grey industrial landscapes. Along with the industrial, electronic score, it sometimes feel like the characters are on Mars or in outer space, all of the scenery is just stark and depressing. The film focuses on Monica Vitti, wife to a factory executive and mother to a young boy, still struggling with anxiety and stress after being hospitalised for a car accident. Richard Harris is the visiting organiser who is attracted to Vitti and they circle around a possible affair. (I kept thinking about Harris being the one English speaking actor on the set, dubbed over in Italian; apparently he did not get along with Antonioni’s controlling direction). With red hair and elegant outfits, Vitti remains glamorous even in her troubled state, positioned in the frame against black dying rivers or a row of red painted radars. The industrial landscapes are so depressing and it works as an eco-text from my viewing. I loved the sequence in the middle where the characters wind up partying in a red room of a harbour shack and how it keeps building with incident, resulting in an arriving ship, threat of a pandemic (no escaping it!) and a deep mysterious fog. I liked Red Desert, though it was alienating and depressing, but had such excellent imagery and composition. I don’t know if I’ll revisit it soon but glad I finally saw it. Recommended.
VHS Tracking 