The Vacation -la Vacanza- - Tinto Brass 1971 -s... < Real >

The film follows (played with weary detachment by Franco Nero , in a role that subverts his usual heroic cool) and his younger, volatile lover, Gigi (a magnetic Florinda Bolkan ). Seeking to escape the claustrophobic chaos of a Rome simmering with political protests, the couple retreats to a remote, rustic villa on the Sardinian coast. Their stated goal is a “vacation”—a pause to reconnect.

Visually, La Vacanza is a masterpiece of 1971 cinema. Cinematographer (who would later shoot Brass’s Salon Kitty ) bathes the film in a sickly, overexposed light. The Italian summer never looked so oppressive. Walls are white. The sky is bleached. There are no shadows, only flat, merciless clarity. The Vacation -La Vacanza- - Tinto Brass 1971 -S...

The story takes place over the course of a single day—December 31st. (Vanessa Redgrave) is a wealthy, mentally fragile woman who has been released from an asylum into the care of her controlling, aristocratic husband. They retreat to their opulent villa in the desolate Po Valley (Polesine) for a New Year's vacation. The film follows (played with weary detachment by

Brass, Redgrave, and Nero reportedly funded the low-budget 16mm production themselves after collaborating on the film Dropout (1970). Visually, La Vacanza is a masterpiece of 1971 cinema