The Red Desert

Saw The Red Desert, a film by Antonioni. It follows a pretty woman who is having some kind of breakdown. Her husband owns a factory of some kind and she spends much time wandering in the gravel nearby it, gazing into septic pools, filled with solvents and waste. She is overcome and anxious about everything. The nature of her problems aren't fully explained and are left ambiguous with teasing hints to guide us. She seems alienated, unsure what people want from her or who she is. This ties in neatly with the industrial landscapes and plastic, blocky, modern decor of her house. Much ink has been spent on alienation in an industrial world and the film even opens with a worker's strike. Is the disorder of the factory mirrored in this woman's mind?

Then again she spends a lot of time in the ruins of nature. The only time we see green trees, they are interrupted by a ship passing through them. The canal carrying the ship is recessed, making the ship look like it's eerily passing through the forest itself. We know she used to hang out in a beautiful, isolated beach. Is she mother earth, upset by her own destruction?

There's many recurring themes. Boats show up many times, as does this radio broadcast from Saturn: It suggests isolation from other people, from nature, from society in general, perhaps even from herself. She is the hook to draw us into the world's problems.

The film itself is a bit slow and self-indulgent. It's interesting to watch this woman freak out over and over and it's interesting to see modern (circa '64), industrial Italy. I'm more used to the urban Italy of Fellini or Pasolini. I was frustrated by my inability to make the film cohere however. There's too many threads for me to tie them all together. I think this was meant to be a bit vague, but not as vague as I'm feeling about it. I feel there's a message where there might just be a meditation. Anyway an interesting film, full of threads to pull on. A great conversation starter.

Edit: oh yeah and some creepy 60s sex. She doesn't really resist, but she's in the middle of a full-blown freak-out, so enthusiastic consent, this is not. It's not as rapey as some contemporary films (looking at you, Goldfinger) but it hasn't aged well.