Review of Red Desert (1964) by Ben L — 02 Nov 2017

Three words I never want to use when describing a movie I just watched are: tedious, frustrating, and boring. Red Desert was all three. It slogs at a terrible pace as we follow this woman who has seemingly lost her mind after a car crash.

I?m not sure how the two events correlate, but then again I?m also not sure how the constant barrage of images depicting industrial plants and polluted landscapes play into the story being told. The sad excuse for a plot amounts to nothing more than an endless series of scenes where Monica Vitti acts like a zombie, and for some reason Richard Harris lusts after her.

It was tough watching Richard Harris stumble through mouthing these Italian words, and trying to act with another man?s voice in his mouth. It drove me a bit crazy how the story failed to go anywhere, and how little any of the scenes connected in anyway with the ones that came before or after.

I saw no purpose in any of it, and even had to watch it in two chunks to avoid falling asleep from pure boredom. There was nothing I liked in Red Desert, with the possible exception of a few visuals that looked great.

I?m sure if Criterion worked on this film it has its fans, but I can?t imagine ever suggesting that someone would like it.