This weekend I had an opportunity to watch a recent DVD acquisition of mine, Antonioni's Red Desert released by Criterion. Previously, I only had a DVD release by Image Entertainment that was released about a decade ago, and it is really a terrible version that does not do the film justice. Obviously, colour is very important in this film, and the Image version was just not a good quality transfer. The Criterion version beautifully restores the film, making the image quality as impressive as it should be.This film is a personal favourite of mine, and I am an admirer of Antonioni's in general. Check out my poem inspired by this film, and also consult Dan Schneider's essay, which provides fresh insights into the film, and is bound to become a classic piece of film criticism.
