Un tranquillo posto di campagna (1968)

A popular painter, plagued by nightmares that he and his lover/sales agent are engaging in bizarre, ritualistic, sadistic sexual acts, seeks to escape the city and rent a house in the country.

Director:

Elio Petri

Writers:

Tonino Guerra (story), Elio Petri (story)

Stars:

Franco Nero, Vanessa Redgrave, Georges Géret

1 win & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Franco Nero	...	Leonardo Ferri
Vanessa Redgrave	...	Flavia
Georges Géret	...	Attilio
Gabriella Boccardo	...	Wanda (as Gabriella Grimaldi)
Madeleine Damien	...	Wanda's Mother
Valerio Ruggeri
Rita Calderoni	...	Egle
Renato Menegotto	...	Egle's Friend
Arnaldo Momo	...	Villager
Sara Momo	...	Villager
Otello Cazzola	...	Villager
Constantino De Luca	...	Villager
Marino Bagiola	...	Villager
Piero De Franceschi	...	Villager
Camillo Besenzon	...	Villager

Storyline

Renowned painter Leonardo Ferri, whose works have a standard price set by the market, and his girlfriend Flavia live together in his studio in Milan. He has not completed any paintings in two months as he slowly goes mad. His mental issues, about which Flavia is aware, includes a recurring dream where she is torturing him before attempting to kill him. As such, Flavia makes arrangements for them to rent a country villa outside of Venice where the change in scenery may recharge his creative juices. Because she can feel negative energy toward her at the villa, Flavia decides to spend her weekdays in Milan, visiting on the weekends, leaving Leonardo alone at the villa during week with only the housekeeper, Egle. Still haunted by his mental problems, Leonardo tries but is unable to restart his work. During this time alone, he learns of Vanda Valier, a previous occupant of the villa who was killed outside the villa walls during the war at age fifteen. Many of the locals still have their ...

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Plot Keywords:

villa | painter | dream | painting | obsession | 

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Taglines:

Nymphomania, necrophilia, fetishism, sadomasochism.

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Genres:

Drama | Horror

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

Italy France

Language:

Italian English

Release Date:

14 August 1969 (France)

Also Known As:

A Quiet Place in the Country

Filming Locations:

Milan, Lombardia, Italy

Company Credits

Production Co:

Produzioni Europee Associate (PEA),Les Productions Artistes Associés,Produzioni Associate Delphos

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Mario Bava had originally planned to film " A Quiet Place in the Country ".

User Reviews

Artists Only

After a demented credit sequence, things calm down a bit by presenting Franco Nero in his pants, tied to a chair, while Vanessa Redgrave surrounds him with electric gadgets, including an underwater television which she places between his legs. Vanessa then murders Franco in the shower. It's a typical artist's day.

And a dream, thankfully. Franco is having trouble completing any picture these days, and Vanessa, as his wife/manager, is getting rather frustrated that he sits around reading porn and being crazy rather than doing anything else. Worse still, he becomes obsessed with a house he spies in the country (in this film, that means that Franco appears and BECKONS HIMSELF into the house, yep, it's one of 'those' films).

Franco loves the house but is rather creeped out by certain rooms near the top, and tells Vanessa that 'there's a ghost in my house' and ghost that wants to kill Vanessa, judging by the things pulling her through the floor and trying to fry her while she's having a shower. This might be the spirit of Wanda, a girl with the fanny of a burst couch judging by the stories the locals tell about her.

I'm describing this like it's a straightforward 'vengeful ghost' film, but that's far from the truth as the first twenty minutes involving Franco's daily routine are utterly brain melting, and serves to make you doubt anything you see for the entire duration of the film. Is there actually a ghost at all? Is there a conspiracy against Franco or is he just mental? To top it all, there's about three different unreliable narrators in this film too.

And on top of that there's the insane direction and the bizarre Morricone soundtrack. We often see things happen about three times in a row from various angles, like Franco appearing to garrotte his wife, but then not doing that at all, or Franco watching himself painting, or frequently imagining himself as Wanda or one of her lovers, or even a guy that gets murdered. Totally off the wall. Morricone's soundtrack is equally mental, going from AMM style improve to tuneless Resident's piano with slide whistle!

This is a stand out film for me. Not a classic, but a good one due to the off-beat direction and the usual solid Nero performance. Aye.