You’ll recall that in my last blog, I described Luca Guadagnino’s love of interiors with his three “Desire Trilogy” films that put characters and action in parallel with their surroundings. I featured the beautiful Villa Necchi as the star of “I am Love.”
In his 2016 “A Bigger Splash,” G. (Guadagnino) has chosen Pantelleria, an Island off the coast of Sicily, as his backdrop. The house where the action takes place, the Tenuta Borgia Estate, is actually famous as a luxury rental property.
The Tenuta Borgia Estate buildings
But as a movie set, it is dressed as an extremely happy, carefree house with colorful, crazy shapes and furniture. Almost as if the sinister quality of some of the actors can be laughed off in this heady atmosphere…
The unusual kitchen
A guest bedroom
The grotto bath
The swimming pool plays such an important role throughout the movie, and at times, the constant buzzing of summer insects and relentless sun, makes the viewers almost dizzy and disoriented.
Most of the action takes place outside, with an occasional glimpse of dappled interiors and lazy furnishings. Generally, the vistas are natural, silent, arid and still (paralleling the motives of several characters?).
It’s as if life stands still in Pantelleria. And for one character, life ends…
The Estate house seems to grow out of the very rock it stands on. Almost cave-like in its primitive state. As you’ll see in the film, some return to their base state as well, mimicking the harsh, unforgiving landscape.
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