The screenplay was written by Brass in collaboration with Vincenzo Maria Siniscalchi and Roberto Lerici. Lerici, a writer and linguistic researcher, contributed significantly to the film’s dialogue, drawing on the Veneto dialect and the earthy, rustic language of the playwright Ruzante. Most strikingly, the lyrics for the film’s songs were adapted from so-called “schizophrenic poems”—texts written by actual psychiatric patients that Siniscalchi discovered in a Neapolitan journal called Carte Segrete and within a mental institution itself. This direct incorporation of the voices of the mentally ill gives the film a documentary-like authenticity and a profound respect for its subject matter.
: The narrative finishes with a chaotic outburst of systemic violence. While the factory women stage a strike, the ruling upper class and local police open fire, resulting in the tragic deaths of Osiride and a blind madam. Themes and Societal Critique Anti-Psychiatry and False Sanity
: While it was highly acclaimed by critics in Venice, it faced censorship battles and was largely kept out of mainstream American theaters for decades. Tinto Brass - Vacation
During her journey, Immacolata meets other societal outcasts:
: The film doesn't shy away from class struggle, featuring a climax involving striking factory workers that borders on the hallucinatory. Viewing Context
For fans of Redgrave or Nero, it offers a chance to see them at their most adventurous. For the curious cinephile, it is a bizarre, frustrating, and essential time capsule of early '70s Italian counterculture. Whether you call it a failure or a masterpiece, it is a film that is impossible to forget.
La Vacanza is a fascinating, overlooked gem of 1970s Italian cinema that deserves re-evaluation for its artistic vision and poignant storytelling. Are you trying to find where to stream this film, or
Upon her release, she is picked up by a car and delivered to her family's farmhouse in the North-Eastern Italian countryside. Any hope for a warm return is quickly shattered. Her family is portrayed as grotesque and dysfunctional, making bizarre animal noises at the dinner table before brutally kicking her out. Rejected by her past, Immacolata embarks on a surreal road trip through the rural landscape.
The film's strength relies heavily on its powerhouse cast, many of whom were central figures in European arthouse cinema: La vacanza (1971) - IMDb
. She portrays Immacolata not as a "victim," but as a woman possessing a purity of spirit that the cynical world around her cannot handle. While Brass is often remembered for the opulence of or the playfulness of La Vacanza
(Vanessa Redgrave), a peasant woman who was committed to a mental asylum after being discarded by her lover, a local Count. She is granted a one-month experimental leave—the "vacation" of the title—to see if she can reintegrate into society.
The film attacks the hypocrisy of the Church, the aristocracy, and the psychiatric system, portraying them as more restrictive and "insane" than the asylum itself. Naturalistic Beauty:
: Immacolata (Redgrave), a woman committed to an asylum by her former lover, is granted a one-month experimental "vacation" to prove she can function in society. Rejected by her family, she finds herself in a series of surreal and tragic adventures alongside a poacher named Osiride (Nero). Key Cast & Crew Vanessa Redgrave : Immacolata Meneghelli. Franco Nero : Osiride. Corin Redgrave : Gigi the Englishman. Leopoldo Trieste : The Judge. Tinto Brass : Director, Screenwriter, and Editor. Critical Recognition : It won the Pasinetti Award for Best Italian Film at the 32nd Venice International Film Festival in 1971.
