The story follows (Vanessa Redgrave), a peasant woman who has been committed to a mental asylum by her former lover, a Count, after he tires of her and returns to his wife. The film begins with Immacolata granted a one-month "vacation"—an experimental leave to determine if she can reintegrate into society. Her return to "civilization" is anything but welcoming:
Reception & legacy
The Vacation is essential viewing for anyone interested in: The Vacation -La Vacanza- - Tinto Brass 1971 -S...
In recent years, La Vacanza has begun to receive renewed attention. In 2012, the Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival did a retrospective on Brass’s early 1960s and 1970s films, screening newly restored versions of his work. For the first time in four decades, American audiences were able to see La Vacanza with English subtitles. The film was presented as part of a career retrospective that also included Dropout , L’Urlo , and Nerosubianco .
: It serves as a relentless attack on the nuclear family, the Catholic church, and psychiatric institutions. The story follows (Vanessa Redgrave), a peasant woman
Unlike his later works focused heavily on voyeuristic erotica, Brass employs a chaotic, carnivalesque visual language here. The movie balances dark humor, surreal imagery, and Marxist theory. Notable sequences include a bizarre medieval fable narrative, an interrogation by a local judge (played by Leopoldo Trieste), and a climax featuring a literal strike by factory workers. 3. Subversive Visual Techniques
, the film explores themes of institutionalization and the "insanity" of modern society. Movie Highlights Plot Summary In 2012, the Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival
The cinematography was handled by Silvano Ippoliti, who captures the lush, pastoral landscapes of northeastern Italy with a warm, sun-drenched palette. The score was composed by Fiorenzo Carpi, who based his music on traditional Venetian folk songs. Carpi’s haunting, lyrical melodies—featuring the actual poems of asylum patients set to music—rank among the most beautiful ever written for a film, according to one devoted critic. Tinto Brass, as was his lifelong practice, personally edited the final cut of the film, shaping the raw footage into the idiosyncratic, rhythmically complex whole that we see today.
: Adding a layer of familial intrigue, Vanessa's real-life brother, Corin Redgrave, plays the role of an eccentric English gentleman the protagonists encounter.
In the context of Tinto Brass's career, La vacanza is the work of a director unmoored, stuck between the intellectualism of his past and the wild hedonism of his future. It is a film of radical ideas, a powerful indictment of the Italian patriarchy and mental health system, but it is also messy, incoherent, and at times, intentionally grotesque.
