A Quiet Place in the Country

A mad artist can't separate fantasy from reality and takes us on a 106 minute, sleep-inducing journey through his own illusions, which include a vision of a girl who died twenty years ago in an Italian villa. Cinematic chloroform from what should have been a fascinating film. Had the music not been so frightfully avant-garde, I might have enjoyed this a little more. I got the point that the music reflected his inner turmoil, but it was just a bit too noisy and chaotic for me. Also, his imitation of a three year old who can't keep the same train of though for more than five minutes de-railed my interest in the story. Vanessa Redgrave, especially, and the rest of the cast give fine performances, but the movie just didn't work for me. This film was a real disappointment and I kept thinking what Mario Bava could have done with material like this!

In Milan, the prominent painter Leonardo Ferri (Franco Nero) is a disturbed man that lives with his agent Flavia (Vanessa Redgrave). He has sadomasochistic nightmares with Flavia and shows signs of insanity. He asks Flavia to rent a villa in a quiet place in the countryside to produce his paints. Leonardo chooses a derelict villa that belonged to a promiscuous countess that was murdered during the war and Flavia moves back to Milan. Soon Leonardo is haunted by the countess... or should it be madness?

"Un tranquillo posto di campagna", a.k.a. "A Quiet Place in the Countryside", is a film that aged. Watching it for the first time in 2018 shows a dated tiresome and confused horror film and the best chance to see the eternal Vanessa Redgrave, sexy and gorgeous, and her husband Franco Nero in the lead roles. But the screenplay is typical for a movie from the late 60´s. Elio Petri is best known as a great director of political films but his work in horror genre is quite confused and disappointing. My vote is four.

Title (Brazil): "Um Lugar Tranquilo no Campo" ("A Quiet Place in the Countryside")

An artist named Leonardo (Franco Nero) decides to escape the big city life of Milan, and moves to A QUIET PLACE IN THE COUNTRY. He and his lover / agent, Flavia (Vanessa Redgrave) locate a beautiful villa in the middle of nowhere. Leonardo moves in and gets right to work on his paintings.

Unfortunately, he discovers that a 17 year old countess died in the villa, and suspects that her ghost is still there. Becoming obsessed with the girl, Leonardo's mind begins to unravel. Meanwhile, a series of near-fatal "accidents" befall Flavia. Is Wanda responsible? This all leads to the big finale, where the true extent of Leonardo's madness is revealed.

This is a rather odd, deceptively creepy film. It's an effective, late 60's art house movie that can be quite disorienting, and is best understood in the context of the period...

A hypnotic Italian thriller about a very imaginative young painter (Nero). He's popular, energetic, so are his paintings. His matron and lover (Redgrave) is going to do everything to make him do his thing. She's willing to create an environment in which he'd be able to churn out more work that's hot and expensive. He decides he needs a quiet place in the country to live and paint in. But as they find such a place, he gets distracted big time... This film is brilliantly crafted. Full of striking and dynamic visuals created by clever camera-work. Always logical, insane, but never "cheesy", "Quiet Place..." at times reminds of Fulci's "Lucertola con la Pelle di Donna" and Verhoeven's "De Vierde Man". Franco Nero's a dead ringer to Kurt Cobain in this one. He's so great in this role that it's almost as if he isn't acting. Highly recommended to fans of Bunuel, Verhoeven, Argento, etc.

I tracked this rarely seen Italian horror on Polish TV and I'm really glad that I taped it.This is a truly bizarre study of madness,which reminds me Polanski's "Repulsion"(1965).The main character-a painter brilliantly played by Franco Nero is trying to run away from his strange visions.He visits an old mansion to find peace,quiet and inspiration,but it seems that this place is haunted by the ghost of a young girl.He slowly loses his sanity...This unjustly forgotten and rather disturbing horror film is a cinematic pleasure to watch for fans of bizarre Italian cinema.The characters are really weird,the musical score by Ennio Morricone is unforgettable and there are some genuine moments of insanity and creepiness.Elio Petri created an unique film,which should be seen by everybody(not only by horror fans!).Highly recommended.