Monica Vitti in Color

Only a few months ago Monica Vitti captured my attention when I watched L’Avventura. After watching that film I continued to enjoy her performances in La Notte and L’Eclisse. All three of those films are great in their own way but one treasure they share is Monica Vitti.

With Red Desert, I was able to see her performance in color which adds a lot to her character. The color of her hair and her eyes stands out. When talking about Monica Vitti as an actress, I often talk about her natural acting abilities. She seems to not be acting at all but rather she is just embodying a character. I have even taken notice of her breathing. Sometimes you can tell when an actor remembers that they are an actor by their breathing. I know, it is a very small thing to point out but when you watch a lot of movies, you notice the little things like that. Monica Vitti has never shown me that she is an actress. She just is that character.

I adore the story of Red Desert. Monica plays a mysterious and interesting wife. As the film plays out, we see Richard Harris’s character, Corrado Zeller, fall for the mystery. Then of course there is the drama that comes with falling for a married woman. But the story is not told in a trite manner. His feelings are not impulsive nor does it come out in dialogue. Michelangelo Antonioni shows us the emotion of these characters rather than telling us, as so many movies try to do.

Monica Vitti’s character is very relatable in this film. That is to say she reminds me of someone I know. Her character seems very out of reach both for the audience and her husband. She has suffered the emotional trauma that comes from being in an accident. So she seems lost. Corrado, however, finds her to be fascinating. As they continue their friendship, Monica begins to find herself in Corrado’s affection for her. She still tries to play wife to her husband, though. Obviously, this begins to hurt Corrado because he sees Monica in a different and more positive way than her husband does.

I tried my best not to give anything away. All I can tell you is that I highly recommend Red Desert especially if you have already seen Michelangelo Antonioni’s trilogy. Red Desert gives you more Monica Vitti along with more depth and emotion. Hopefully you can find some time to sit down and enjoy it.

Thank you for reading.