“You ask what you should watch. I ask how I should live. It’s the same thing.“

Sometimes the best duos in film are lovers. It worked so well with Jean-Luc Godard and his muse Anna Karina. And roughly at the same time in Italy, we had Michelangelo Antonioni and his lover Monica [...]]]>

“You ask what you should watch. I ask how I should live. It’s the same thing.“

Sometimes the best duos in film are lovers. It worked so well with Jean-Luc Godard and his muse Anna Karina. And roughly at the same time in Italy, we had Michelangelo Antonioni and his lover Monica Vitti, a breathtaking woman who shined so bright in his films, and for good reason. And in 1964 she made the film Red Desert, a stunning look at the industrialization that was occurring in Italy at the time and is Antonioni’s first color film, which he takes glorious advantage of.

Giuliana (Monica Vitti) is a young mother and wife who is recovering from a monthlong hospital stay due to an attempted suicide, which she somehow concealed from her husband Ugo (Carlo Chionetti), who is a hotshot engineer at the power plant. He doesn’t really care for her emotional turmoil and would rather go through his day without that burden, so Giuliana falls for her husband’s co-worker, Corrado Zeller (Richard Harris), a globe trotting charmer. Sadly she stays withdrawn from Corrado as well, even though he is empathetic to her pain and doesn’t take to physical pleasure, even though she might truly yearn for it.

Monica Vitti was the perfect actress for Antonioni, first in 1960′s L’avventura and 1962′s L’eclisse (both available from Criterion) and this is no exception. The pain, the turmoil, the anguish throughout this film that she is suffering is as intense, especially with the cold backdrop of the power plant and the smoke stacks, with flames bursting through, is something to behold. Vitti is almost a piece of the scenery, with her bright clothing and her hip hairstyle, while the commercial and sterile look of the surrounding area and even their apartment itself, makes for a dizzying display of muted colors. The grays and blacks are as much a part of this film as the actual players, and seeing him use the character of Giuliana as a central point, we follow her through this film, wondering if she’ll ever open up or just continue this pattern of depression.

Again, I don’t want to beat a dead horse, but the term ‘artist’ comes up again in this review, but how could I not use that comparison when speaking of Antonioni and his use of color for the first time? He would go as far as painting the backgrounds to his choosing, even coloring trees and grass different colors to fit the scene and the feeling that he was alluding to. The pipes are another element of this film, with their sharp reds showcasing the anxiety Giuliana feels, even though she has a man in her life that truly understands what she’s going through and wants to help her through it while her own marriage is falling apart.

Many think the backgrounds are too harsh, alienating the viewer, but one has to look at it a bit further. Antonioni is showing his appreciation and the beauty of the industrial environment and a person’s attempt to adapt to this world. He’s gone on to say that it was about someone adjusting to the world around them, and Giuliana is continously trying to adjust to her own environment and to the relationships she’s formed with two men that love her. Her disconnection is something many have felt before, and we stay with her throughout, hoping she’ll find her own identity. It being set in and around a power plant is irrelevent, but Antonioni uses it to its full affect to keep the story going forward.

Criterion once again brings out all the big guns for their Blu-ray release of Red Desert. With their usual pristine transfer and updated English subtitle translation, they also have a great commentary by Italian film scholar David Forgacs, archival interviews with Antonioni and Vitti, two short documentaries by Antonioni (Gente del Po and N.U.), dailies from the original production, the film’s trailer and a booklet featuring an essay by film writer Mark Le Fanu, Antonioni writings on Gente del Po and N.U. and a fitting reprinting of an interview of Antonioni by Jean-Luc Godard himself.

Red Desert is one of many films that if it wasn’t for the Criterion Collection, I might not have had the urge to seek out to watch. But seeing this film and knowing of Antonioni’s other films, I have yet to be disappointed by his work. One of, if not the greatest Italian modernist directors, I wonder if films such as The Passenger and Blow-Up might be entering the collection down the line? If so, they will be a perfect fit within the collection by a director whose films get better with age.

Buy the Red Desert DVD from Amazon

Buy the Red Desert Blu-ray from Amazon

One of the most important Italian screenwriters in cinema history is set to be the subject of a new art exhibition in Moscow.

According to The Voice Of Russia, screenwriter/playwright/poet and painter Tonino Guerra will be the subject of a new exhibition opening just in time to celebrate his 90th birthday. The [...]]]>

One of the most important Italian screenwriters in cinema history is set to be the subject of a new art exhibition in Moscow.

According to The Voice Of Russia, screenwriter/playwright/poet and painter Tonino Guerra will be the subject of a new exhibition opening just in time to celebrate his 90th birthday. The exhibition will display 25 paintings, ceramic tiles, and also furniture that the author made himself. Regarding his screenwriting work, he is best known for working with the likes of Michelangelo Antonioni and Federico Fellini.

Those who know the Criterion Collection will also know this name quite well. He wrote the screenplays for L’avventura, Amarcord, And The Ship Sails On, L’eclisse, and the upcoming release, Red Desert. He’s a 6 time Oscar winer, 8 time Golden Palm winner, and just an all around legend within the world of film.

While I am quite sad that this will not be showing here in the states, it is good to see such a big legend get his just due. He is a legendary screenwriter, having penned screenplays to some of my all time favorite films like Amarcord and Blowup, so this is definitely a justly deserved retrospective on the life, and art of one of film’s most storied writers.

Source: The Voice Of Russia

Ryan Gallagher is more than just my Criterion Cast co-host and friend in real life (yes, we have real lives).  He is also the unapologetic, take-no-prisoners editor of our site.  With Ryan at SXSW this week, confined to film screenings and informative panel discussions, I was just [...]]]>

Ryan Gallagher is more than just my Criterion Cast co-host and friend in real life (yes, we have real lives).  He is also the unapologetic, take-no-prisoners editor of our site.  With Ryan at SXSW this week, confined to film screenings and informative panel discussions, I was just certain I was going to get a week off from writing for the site.

However, while my feet were up on my desk and my fingers interlocked behind my head in true lackadaisical fashion, I simultaneously received texts and email reading, “Travis, the June releases have been announced.  Let’s get a post up STAT.  Don’t make me take your Seagal films from you when I get back.  I’M WATCHING YOU.”

Okay okay — so maybe that was hyperbolic.  In truth, I’m more than happy to write about Criterion’s June 2010 releases, and Ryan didn’t have to threaten punishment to get me typing (Really, though — Heaven help the person who tries to lay his hands on my Seagal flicks.

Criterion makes us think. Rather than providing us with campy comedies and mindless, explosion-laden action flicks (well, save one or two), they provide us with intellectually-gratifying cinema coupled with essays, theses, and commentary from scholarly folk of all shapes and sizes. They give credit to their audience’s brain power, and would never sleight [...]]]>

Criterion makes us think. Rather than providing us with campy comedies and mindless, explosion-laden action flicks (well, save one or two), they provide us with intellectually-gratifying cinema coupled with essays, theses, and commentary from scholarly folk of all shapes and sizes. They give credit to their audience’s brain power, and would never sleight us the consideration.

Our New Year’s present from Criterion, then, should come as no surprise. On the morning of the 1st, they posted Jason Polan’s illustrated cypher of a handful of films slated for release in the Collection this year. Some were relatively self-explanatory. Others were mind-boggling and required the collaborative effort of this entire Criterion Cast and the super sleuths over at The Criterion Forum Board. Here is what we believe to be the definitive solution to the puzzle, clockwise:

• the background: Il Deserto Rosso (The Red Desert) – Michelangelo Antonioni, 1964 Wikipedia IMDB

“Although on one level Red Desert might be taken as a story about a harsh modern industrial culture to which only the neurotic Giuliana has awakened, Antonioni later said he wanted to show that industrial technology has a beauty of its own and that he had filmed a story about human adaptability…” Wiki

• the locusts: Days of Heaven [Blu-Ray] – Terrence Malick, 1978

• the hotel sign: Vivre Sa Vie (To Live Her Life) – Jean-Luc Godard, 1962 Wikipedia IMDB

“The film stars Anna Karina, Godard’s then wife, as Nana, a young Parisian woman who abandons her marriage and a child in order to pursue a career as an actress. Faced with financial troubles she drifts into prostitution. Nana believes she makes this choice of her own free will, but the film emphasizes the social structure that forces the poor into such situations, and builds to a tragic conclusion.” Wiki

• the pitcher of milk: Bigger Than Life – Nicholas Ray, 1956

• the giant baby: Colossal Youth – Pedro Costa, 2006, from Letters From Fontainhas Box Set

• road sign (Paris, Texas): Paris, Texas – Wim Wenders, 1984

• road sign (The Idlewild Home For Ladies): Make Way For Tomorrow – Leo McCarey, 1937

• road sign (Germany, Rome, Po Valley): Roberto Rossellini’s War Trilogy – Roberto Rossellini, 1945, 1946, 1948

• the strange sculpture: Summer Hours – Oliver Assayas, 2008 Wikipedia IMDB

“Two brothers and a sister witness the disappearance of their childhood memories when they must relinquish the family belongings to ensure their deceased mother’s succession.” Wiki

• the bipedal dog: By Brakhage: An Anthology, Volume 2 [Blu Ray] – Stan Brakhage

• the axe in the stump: Revanche – Götz Spielman, 2008

• man and devil on motorcycle: Ride With The Devil – Ang Lee, 1999 Wikipedia IMDB

“Jake Roedel and Jack Bull Chiles are friends in Missouri when the Civil War starts. Women and Blacks have few rights. Jack Bull’s dad is killed by Union soldiers, so the young men join the Bushwhackers, irregulars loyal to the South. One is a Black man, Daniel Holt, beholden to the man who bought his freedom. They skirmish then spend long hours hiding. Sue Lee, a young widow, brings them food. She and Jack Bull become lovers, and when he’s grievously wounded, Jake escorts her south to a safe farm. The Bushwhackers, led by men set on revenge, make a raid into Kansas. At 19, Jake is ill at ease with war. As his friends die one after another, he must decide where honor lies.” IMDB

• man on back of motorcycle: Close-Up – Abbas Kiarostami, 1990 Wikipedia IMDB

“…directed by Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami. The film tells the story of the real-life trial of a man who impersonated film-maker Mohsen Makhmalbaf, conning a family into believing they would star in his new film. It features the people involved, acting as themselves. ” Wiki

• blue “M” on man’s shoulder: M [Blu-Ray] – Fritz Lang, 1931

• white feather: The Four Feathers – Zolta Korda, 1939 Wikipedia IMDB

“A British army officer who resigns his commission on the eve of his unit’s embarkation to a mission against Egyptian rebels seeks to redeem his cowardice by secretly aiding his former comrades disguised as an Arab. When his unit is overwhelmed and captured by the rebels, the hero finds an opportunity to return the ‘feathers’ of cowardice sent to him by his former comrades by freeing them.” IMDB

• samurai with blue sword: Seven Samurai / Yojimbo / Sanjuro [Blu-Ray] – Akira Kurosawa, 1954. 1961,1962

• samurai’s shoes: The Red Shoes [Blu-Ray] – Mihcael Powell & Emeric Pressburger, 1948

• woman with flowers in hair: Lola Montès – Max Ophuls, 1955

• woman’s tshirt: Che – Steven Soderbergh, 2008

• woman’s polka-dot gun: Dillinger Is Dead – Marco Ferreri, 1969

• blue leopard: The Leopard [Blu-Ray] – Luchino Visconti, 1963

Good work, gumshoes! Now that we’ve been given a chummy taste of what’s to come, we cinephiles have become something like maddened, circling sharks. I can envision the 15th of each month offering one or two of these at a time, along with plenty more that we haven’t been promised in this drawing. I’ll keep you updated of these monthly releases as the year goes by. If you believe any of this to be erroneous, or if you have any suggestions to what we might have overlooked (there is a sun that is unaccounted for), give us your comments/feedback.

Happy New Year from the CriterionCast!

[Note from the Editor: you can also find a copy of the image in question, along with each drawing tagged, on our Facebook Page.]