"RED DESERT" is beautiful from a visual standpoint and it is somehow tragic, sexually tense and isolating. It is beautiful and utilizes Antonino's usual architectural imagery to convey an emotion, theme, or idea.
It is in "Red Desert" that we see Antonioni's sensual camera and his first COLOR film. he famously painted locations red and the grass green for his other masterpiece "Blow Up."
This is an absolutely shocking piece that can be interpreted in many ways. The film is definitely making a statement on the decay of the modern world due to factories and pollution. In one of the film's last moments it is discussed how even the birds do not fly through the yellow gasses from the factory anymore because they know they will die. What about humans? Where does nature meet machine.
The mental state of the lead character is constantly in question and when sex and architecture come into the mix...the effect is abstract but striking. "Red Desert" is sort of like a nightmare that is both beautiful and terrible in equal ways.
Shots like the one's below remind me of Akira Kurosawa's knack for putting the camera behind the head of our protagonist as other people address them. In the same way, we see Antonioni putting the camera behind the head of Monica Vitti in order for us to get a sense of her mental state.
We are instantly made off-balanced, out of focus and confused by this incredibly simple directing choice...even better because the shots utilize a blur of vibrant COLORS to help achieve the desired effect
The final time in the film this happens is one of the very final shots.
