The Red Desert

Dir. Michelangelo Antonioni (1964).
Antonioni’s first color film is almost pure science fiction. Everything exudes a chemical glow, driving the movie’s tragic, agitated heroine (Monica Vitti) past distraction into madness: “There’s something terrible about reality, and I don’t know what.” Positing a protagonist who is allergic to the world, this gorgeous movie is the prototype for Todd Haynes’s Safe.

Fridays-Sundays, 2, 4:30, 6:50 & 9:15 p.m.; Mon., Sept. 5, 4:30, 6:50 & 9:15 p.m.; Tue., Sept. 6, 4:30, 6:50 & 9:15 p.m. Starts: Sept. 2. Continues through Sept. 4, 2011