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striking garden whose colours naturally blend with the reddish soil and green vegetation of
the Siena countryside, these tones being intensified to cue a sense of artistic beauty.
Remembering how Stealing Beauty was Bertolucci's cinematic return to Italy, his choice of
location can be interpreted as a tribute to the geographical beauty and artistic tradition of his
country. This appears to be echoed in the praise delivered by lan Grayson early in the film,
There is a great tradition of art in these hills', in response to Lucy's question about why he
moved there. The notion that Bertolucci aims to encourage in viewers a prolonged
enchantment with this element of the film's mise-en-scene, is reinforced by the way a colour
motif based on shades of red and green is designed to enhance the natural beauty and radiate
from almost every scene. The colour of Lucy's eyes and lips also perfectly match those of the
settings, and because it is noticeable how every shot contains either objects or costumes that
repeat the red/green colour motif, it is clear that the director used the colours as a technique to
create parallels among elements of the film's settings. Here follow a few examples: life size
statues, made of the local red clay known as "Terre di Siena" and positioned around the bam,
mirror the red soil of the paths that run between the buildings. In the kitchen, green furniture
is counterbalanced by the tiled red floor, while a green shawl covers the shoulders of a red
statue resting against the wall. Each character in turn wears something red or green;
particularly beautiful is Diane's green silk dressing gown with a red rose pattern, which
contrasts with the monochrome of the red-clay artistic headboard of her bed. hi the sequence
of the decisive encounter between Lucy and Osvaldo, her red skirt complements his red shirt,
so that when they make love, their clothing underlines the forming of a bond between them.
The film ends with Lucy returning to the barn, and the promising future ahead of her is
symbolized by the way the frame gradually enlarges to give an aerial view of Siena, showing
the familiar red of its roofs and buildings, surrounded by green hills.
Moreover, frontal lighting is adopted to take away density from the images, whereas
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