Review

Reviewed Work(s): THE RED DESERT by Michelangelo Antonioni, Antonioni Guerra, Tonino
Guerra, Antonio Cervi, Angelo Rizzoli and Rizzoli Films
Review by: Jules Cohen
Source: Film Comment, Vol. 3, No. 1 (WINTER 1965), p. 70
Published by: Film Society of Lincoln Center
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/43753313
Accessed: 14-06-2018 10:57 UTC

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 that no matter how evocative color may be, it cannot
be used as a substitute for character motivation. No

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amount of blue, green or gray, no matter how skillfully
blended, can take us inside a character and expose her
to our scrutiny.
Antonioni's intent is to provide us with a subjective
view of Giuliana's illness, but he frequently strays from
his main concern to make pictorial comments on the
social and political ills of modern Italian society. When
he attempts to integrate these elements, by indicating that
they are contributing factors to his heroine's neurosis,
the effect is strained and unconvincing.
Another of the film's glaring inconsistencies is the
performance of Richard Harris, who has been badly
THE RED DESERT
dubbed, and who offers little conviction as Corrado,
Directed by Michelangelo Antonioni ; Giuliana's
screenplaylover. The
by role has no depth, and Harris plays
it woodenly.
Antonioni and Tonino Guerra ; produced by Antonio Other characters in this little puppet show
Cervi and Angelo Rizzoli ; distributed byare so sketchily
Rizzoli Films drawn
, as to be almost invisible.
Ine,; 116 minutes ; Technicolor . THE RED DESERT is another painful example (e.g.,
Bergman's THE SILENCE and Resnais's MURIEL) of
Reviewed by Jules what
Cohencan happen to a gifted director when he loses the
ability, or the
In the film trilogy that brought him international rec- desire, to communicate with his intended
audience.
ognition (L'AVVENTURA, LA NOTTE, L'ECLISSE),
Michelangelo Antonioni presented a compelling view of
what he considers to be the malaise of modern civiliza-
Scene From THE RED DESERT
tion. Whether Antonioni's vision is an accurate one is, -, > ^^Mš^ĒKĒĒtBĒĒ
of course, open to debate. What is not debatable is the
skill with which he presented his case. These three films,
despite differences in visual style, have a unified moral
and philosophic point of view. Each has an effective
cinematic evocation of mood, and each possesses a lucid
narrative structure.

It is a tremendous disappointment, therefore, to dis-

cover that the director's newest film, RED DESERT, is
little more than a pretentious muddle of social and
psychological symbolism in which Antonioni has at-
tempted to describe the nether world of a lovely young
neurotic, Giuliana, played with sensual grace by Monica
Vitti.
Giuliana is in an advanced neurotic state, a condition
having its origins in an automobile accident, which we
are told was a suicide attempt. She has managed to hide
her condition from her husband and friends, but the dis-
order persists despite her efforts to readjust to her
milieu. Despair finally drives her into the arms of Cor-
rado, a friend of her husband. But this is no solution,
and she is left with the realization that no one can
provide her with strength. She must find it within herself.
Working for the first time in color, Antonioni creates
a series of lovely mosaics, each individually meaning-
ful, yet unrelated and undisciplined when taken in toto.
Seldom do these pretty pictures merge to build a co-
herent theme or even the skeleton of a plot. We learn

70

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