Red Desert (1964)

A near-apocalyptic audiovisual tour de force, Antonioni’s first film in colour confirms his status as cinema’s poet laureate on the soul-sickness of modern man. Vitti plays Giuliana, a disaffected wife who stumbles through a bleak industrial landscape beset by power plants and environmental toxins, suffering from a mysterious and debilitating anxiety. When her husband’s friend Corrado (Richard Harris) shows sensitivity to her condition, and a tentative flirtation ensues, Giuliana’s mental deterioration continues. Antonioni's panoramic and spellbinding critique of technological malaise is a prescient ecological nightmare that continues a run of decade-defining artistic achievements.

Venice Film Festival 1964 – Winner, Golden Lion, FIPRESCI Prize, New Cinema Award
Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists 1964 – Winner, Silver Ribbon Best Cinematography

This screening is made possible with the support of the Italian Cultural Institute of Sydney and the Italian Cultural Institute of Melbourne.