In the annals of Italian cinema, few directors have carved out a niche as unique and provocative as Giovanni “Tinto” Brass. Born in Milan in 1933, Brass began his career as a promising avant-garde filmmaker in the 1960s before achieving global notoriety for his later erotic works such as Caligula and Salon Kitty . Yet nestled within his early experimental period lies a film that represents a fascinating crossroads in his artistic journey: La Vacanza , released in English as The Vacation . This 1971 Italian drama, starring the luminous Vanessa Redgrave and the charismatic Franco Nero, stands as a singular achievement—a work that is simultaneously a scathing social critique, a surrealist fairy tale, and the final testament to Brass’s politically engaged phase before he pivoted decisively toward softcore erotica. Premiering at the Venice Film Festival on September 4, 1971, where it won the coveted “Best Italian Film” prize from the film critics, La Vacanza has largely receded into obscurity in the decades since its release. Yet for those who have discovered it, the film remains a haunting, unforgettable experience—an anarchic, irriverent, and deeply humanistic vision that deserves a prominent place in the canon of 1970s European cinema.
For cinephiles, The Vacation is a fascinating artifact. It showcases Tinto Brass before he fully embraced the "Pop-Erotica" aesthetic. It retains the political bite of his earlier works like The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (though he was uncredited on that project) and Nerosubianco . The film is often cited as a "lost classic" of Italian cinema, valuable for its atmospheric direction and its stark, unromanticized view of human desire.
The plot follows , a woman labeled as mentally unstable by a rigid patriarchal society. She is granted a temporary release—ironically deemed a "vacation" —from a psychiatric hospital. The purpose of her release is a test to see if she can properly assimilate back into civilized, "normal" everyday life. The Illusion of Sanity The Vacation -La Vacanza- - Tinto Brass 1971 -S...
One of the film’s most intriguing stylistic devices is its deliberate manipulation of emotional tone. As described by scholars familiar with Brass’s early work, many sequences in La Vacanza create a deliberate contrast between intellectual meaning and emotional impact. A scene may depict profoundly sad or serious events—a betrayal, a beating, a death—yet due to the editing, the music, and the overall directorial approach, it feels surprisingly lighthearted or absurd. This Brechtian technique, which Brass himself admired, keeps the viewer at a critical distance, forcing them to think rather than simply feel. A scene that seems simple and funny on first viewing can suddenly become food for thought as the viewer processes the underlying social critique.
★★★½ (Highly recommended for fans of Antonioni’s L’Avventura and the darker corners of 1970s Italian cinema.) In the annals of Italian cinema, few directors
The story follows (Vanessa Redgrave), a woman previously committed to a mental asylum after a scandalous affair with a Count. She is granted a one-month "vacation" to test her ability to reintegrate into normal society. However, the world she returns to—filled with a rejectionist family, bizarre bureaucrats, and social outcasts—is often depicted as more "insane" than the institution she left. During her journey, she meets Osiride (Franco Nero), an understanding poacher, and together they embark on a series of free-flowing, often surreal adventures that challenge societal norms. Key Highlights and Themes
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The plot of "The Vacation" is deceptively simple. The film follows a group of Italian middle-class friends who embark on a summer vacation to the picturesque coastal town of Ostia, near Rome. The group, consisting of Clara (Valeria Zalla), Mario (Mario Monicelli), and Bruno (Bruno Corbucci), among others, arrive at their vacation home, a spacious villa overlooking the sea. Initially, the atmosphere is lighthearted and carefree, with the friends engaging in various leisure activities, such as swimming, drinking, and flirting.
La Vacanza is a transitional film for Tinto Brass. It comes before his later erotic blockbusters like Caligula and Salon Kitty , but it contains all the seeds of his future obsessions: the rejection of consumer society, social hypocrisy, and a fascination with the marginalized.
While often searched for due to its erotic content and the presence of Vanessa Redgrave, The Vacation is fundamentally a moody, art-house drama. It captures a specific moment in Italian history where the sexual revolution met the fading hopes of the political left, all wrapped in the distinct visual style of one of Italy’s most controversial directors.