Archive of films Quiet Place in the Country / Un tranquillo posto di campagna
Italy
1968, 107 min
Section:
Tribute to Elio Petri
Year: 2014
Afflicted by a creative crisis, established abstract painter Leonardo (Franco Nero) withdraws to an old, abandoned villa that his art dealer lover Flavia (Vanessa Redgrave) helps him find. But his voluntary seclusion is soon interrupted by a bizarre housemate. This hypnotic visual mosaic and brilliant study of madness is Petri’s most experimental film.
Synopsis
In an effort to overcome a creative crisis, established abstract painter Leonardo (Franco Nero) finds asylum in an old, abandoned villa that his art dealer lover Flavia (Vanessa Redgrave) helps him find. Mentally unstable, the artist succumbs to a fantasy-cum-obsession for a bizarre housemate – the ghost of a 17-year-old countess, an alleged nymphomaniac who was killed during the war. As in his other films, Petri has chosen an ideal story for his brilliant study of advancing madness, drawing on his own distinctive poetics to vigorously denounce social abuses. The work is a hypnotic visual mosaic – clearly Petri’s most experimental film, beautifully shot by Luigi Kuveiller (Silver Bear at the Berlinale 1969) – in which he takes ironic digs at consumer society and the artist’s dilemma when confronted with commercial success. Employing a frenetic style and his pointedly expressive use of color, the director ponders identity, sex, and death against a backdrop of modern schizophrenia and alienation. Here, too, his theses are never a bore; indeed, his horror onslaught is pure entertainment, compelling the viewer to ride the limits of suspense. Modern art was Petri’s passion, and for the film he ordered a series of abstract paintings executed by pop-artist Jim Dine.
Contacts
Park Circus Group
15 Woodside Crescent, G37UL, Glasgow
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 141 332 2175
E-mail: [email protected]
www: www.parkcircus.com
Istituto Luce Cinecitta Srl
, 001 73, Rome
Italy
Alberto Grimaldi Productions
, , ?
Italy
E-mail: [email protected]
About the film
Color, 35 mm
Section: | Tribute to Elio Petri |
---|---|
Director: | Elio Petri |
Screenplay: | Elio Petri, Luciano Vincenzoni, Tonino Guerra |
Dir. of Photography: | Luigi Kuveiller |
Music: | Ennio Morricone |
Editor: | Ruggero Mastroianni |
Producer: | Alberto Grimaldi |
Production: | P.E.A. |
Coproduction: | Les productions artistes associes |
Cast: | Franco Nero, Vanessa Redgrave, Georges Géret, Gabriella Bocca, Madeleine Damien |
Contact: | Park Circus Group, Istituto Luce Cinecitta Srl, Alberto Grimaldi Productions |
Guests
Paola Pegoraro
Other
Milena Gregor
Film Institution Rep.
Franco Nero
Actor / Film Director