Red Desert, The Italy / France
1964, 120min.
Prod.: Antonio Cervi, Angelo Rizzoli, Script: Michelangelo Antonioni, Tonino Guerra, Dir.: Michelangelo Antonioni, Dir. of Phot.: Carlo Di Palma, Compos.: Giovanni Fusco, Prod. Design: Piero Poletto, Sound: Claudio Maielli, Edit.: Eraldo Da Roma.
Cast: Monica Vitti, Richard Harris, Carlo Chionetti, Xenia Valderi, Rita Renoir, Emilia Lili Rheims, Aldo Grotti, Valerio Bartoleschi.
Giuliana, a young and mentally distressed woman, has attempted to take her life. Although she is married to Ugo, a plant director, and has a young son, she feels estranged from her relatives and disconnected from the surrounding world. She does not know how to connect to it and feels that something goes terribly wrong. Ugo's friend, Zeller, who came to Ravenna to make a business deal, pursues her, attracted by her beauty and enigma. He seems to understand her troubles better than her busy husband, but that is still not enough to alleviate Giuliana's anxiety and tribulations.
Awards
Golden Lion, FIPRESCI Prize (Venice IFF, 1964), Silver Ribbon - Best Cinematography, Color (Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists, 1965).
Production Companies
Film Duemila
Federiz
Francoriz Production (co-production)
| Antonioni, Michelangelo  Nationality: Italian. Born: Ferrara, Italy, 29 September 1912. Education: Studied at University of Bologna, 1931–35, and at Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografica, Rome, 1940–41. Career: Journalist and bank teller, 1935–39; moved to Rome, 1939; film critic for Cinema (Rome) and others, 1940–49; assistant director on I due Foscari (Fulchignoni), 1942; wrote screenplays for Rossellini, Fellini, and others, 1942–52; directed first film, Gente del Po, 1943 (released 1947). Awards: Special Jury Prize, Cannes Festival, for L'avventura, 1960, and L'eclisse, 1962; FIPRESCI Award from Venice Festival, for Il deserto Rosso, 1964; Best Director Award, National Society of Film Critics, for Blow-Up, 1966; Palme d'Or, Cannes Festival, for Blow-Up, 1967; Academy Award for Lifetime Achievement in Film, 1995. Died in Rome, Italy, 30 July, 2007.
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