Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

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")

A completely novel role for Franco Nero, no, he is not a cowboy, neither a cop, he's simply an abstract painter, obsessed with sex, strange dreams and kneaded-surreal-erotic visions. The film starts with a succession of favorite paintings of mine too(Francisco Goya - The Nude Maja, etc., many nudes...) Then, Nero(Leonardo Ferri) is skimming along with Vanessa Redgrave(Flavia) some soft porn magazines. Then, Wanda, the beautiful ghost begin to manifest: being jealous on Flavia, she wants her dead. Absolutely normal, it can happen to anyone no, when a ghost falls for you, she does anything to have you, right? We learn later that in fact Wanda had not been machine-gunned from that plane, but was shot by Attilio(Georges Geret) (usually in other films, a very good actor). Finally, we must conclude that Nero-Leonardo Ferri is really crazy. OK, Elio Petri is for me one of the most talented filmmakers ever, he gave us absolute masterpieces like "Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion"(1970)(one of the best films ever made), "We Still Kill the Old Way"(1967), "Lulu the Tool"(1971), etc. but with this "A Quiet Place in the Country" he simply failed, is exactly like those hundreds or thousands of giallo(Italian thrillers) made in the 60s and '70s, those with value close to zero.

The canny on-screen pairing of Vanessa Redgrave & Franco 'Django' Nero generates some considerable frisson in this taut, atmospheric Italian chiller. This enigmatic, surreal giallo is an unwarranted sleeper since 'a quiet pace in the country' (1969) is a skillfully wrought, eerie treatise on madness; with robust performances from the two attractive leads, assured direction by, Elio Petri and a marvellously evocative and uneasy score from, Ennio Morricone, ensures that this Giallo-Gothic is time well spent. 'A Quiet Place in The Country' sits happily alongside 'Repulsion' & 'The house with laughing windows' in terms of mood, style and uneasy content. (special mention has to be made of the wonderfully Godardian, pop-art title sequence, given considerable pep via Morricone's avaunt-beatnik grooves)

A Quiet Place in the Country is a rarely seen film, and that's probably owing to the fact that sourcing an English language copy is rather difficult. I was lucky enough to find one, and although I'm not going to rave about this film as some others have; it's certainly very interesting and was worth the trouble of tracking it down. The film is likely to divide opinion because it doesn't really follow any logical structure, and mostly relies on style and atmosphere to get its points across. Films like this have to work extra hard to get me to like them as I'm a fan of films that tell a story...and I'd say it just about manages it. The plot focuses on Leonardo Ferri; a tortured artist. He is haunted by strange visions and suffers from nightmares. Because of this, he feels he needs to get away to the countryside. He ends up staying in a country villa; but his tranquillity is soon interrupted when it emerges that the villa is haunted by the ghost of a girl. Leonardo then becomes obsessed by the idea of the haunting, and edges ever closer to losing his mind.My main reason for wanting to see this film is the fact that it stars the great Franco Nero. It has to be said that this isn't really an actor's film as the focus is more on the visuals; but in spite of that, Nero still manages to impress with a performance that hits all the right notes. Nero leads the film and plays the only character of any sustained significance; but he does receive some decent support from Vanessa Redgrave. The plot is very fragmented in the way that it's structured and often trails off in directions you wouldn't expect. At times it's easier just to forget about what is going on and just watch the film itself without worrying about the plot. Director Elio Petri creates a surreal atmosphere, which compliments the plot nicely and helps to increase the potency of many of the visuals featured. The plot line about the haunting does not begin until half way through the film; although it is the film's only real attempt to tell a story. Even so, the film is a success rated purely on the quality of what we're seeing on screen...although viewers that appreciate a good story may be disappointed.