RED DESERT (IL DESERTO ROSSO) Cinema's Legacy

Michelangelo Antonioni’s 1964 Golden Lion winner — and first foray into color — follows muse Monica Vitti as a maladjusted woman searching for her place in the world. Giuliana (Vitti) is a melancholy, young mother who lives in a foggy, bleak industrial town with her husband Ugo, who runs a factory. When Ugo’s dapper colleague Corrado (Richard Harris) arrives in town, Giuliana forms an attraction to him and finds someone with whom she can share her concerns and troubles about life. Antonioni and director of photography Carlo Di Palma create painterly compositions that pop with color against the cold, grey environment that surrounds Giuliana, making every frame a work of art. Restoration curated by CSC-Cineteca Nazionale and Istituto Luce Cinecittà, in collaboration with RTI-Mediaset. – Jenn Murphy