Michelangelo Antonioni
Michelangelo Antonioni’s “Red Desert” (1964) speaks on the Industrial Age through a despondent lens. The film introduces themes of alienation and temptation paralleled with the unavoidable consequences of technological advancements in society.
Infectious diseases, pollution, and poverty are represented through differentiated visions of reality. The ideas of capitalism versus socialism and the transitions in between are key points in the film.
Trapped in depression’s inescapable grip, Giuliana pursues Corrado Zeller, a coworker of her husband. A tentative relationship turned passionate exposes the emotional turmoil and paranoia of the time.
Antonioni’s twisted depiction of nature’s destruction speaks loudly to current environmental and social issues. Chemical clouds set the scene as the past begins to fade into the future. Pureness, at this point, is a distant reality.
Red Desert
director MICHELANGELO ANTONIONI
year 1964
director of photography CARLO DI PALMA
cast MONICA VITTI and RICHARD HARRIS
words KELLEN MULCAHY
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