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Death in Venice (1971)
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Reviews Counted:16
Fresh:12
Rotten:4
Average Rating:7.1/10
Runtime: 2 hrs 11 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: Luchino Visconti utilized striking cinematography and a precise narrative in his adaptation of Thomas Mann's DEATH IN VENICE. The filmmaker was known for his deliberate, masterly work in films that... Luchino Visconti utilized striking cinematography and a precise narrative in his adaptation of Thomas Mann's DEATH IN VENICE. The filmmaker was known for his deliberate, masterly work in films that delved deeply into a significant historical era or figure. The story follows the sickly composer, Gustav von Aschenbach (Dirk Bogarde), who arrives in Venice by steamboat from Munich. He is deeply distracted, nervous, uncomfortable, and conflicted. Nonetheless, he settles into a breathtaking seaside resort, where he fixates on Tadzio (Bjorn Andresen), an angelic blond Polish boy who is there with his family. While flashbacks to happy times spent with his wife and small daughter fill in some of the blanks of Aschenbach's personal past, others recall his harsh and competitive friend, Alfred (Mark Burns), who criticized Aschenbach's music for being too technically perfect and thus lacking in beauty and passion. Via these glimpses into the past, we see that Aschenbach feels defeated in both his personal and his professional lives. The film uses very little dialogue, relying largely on the characters' facial expressions to communicate the protagonist's tortured psyche, young Tadzio's curious vanity, and the pretentious airs of the bourgeois women who parade the Venetian beaches in taffeta, bonnets, and parasols. As Aschenbach's infatuation with Tadzio grows beyond his control, he learns that "Venice is gripped by pestilence" (as narrated in Mann's novel) and the city is being sequestered to prevent the spread of a cholera outbreak. With slow and concentrated pacing, some hauntingly surreal scenes, and a color scheme consisting of bold blacks and stark whites that are a constant reminder of the inevitable, DEATH IN VENICE captures the poignancy of Mann's novel with a sharp, sinister, and unwavering accuracy. [More]
Starring: Dirk Bogarde, Bjorn Andresen, Silvana Mangano, Marisa Berenson
Starring: Dirk Bogarde, Bjorn Andresen, Silvana Mangano, Marisa Berenson, Mark Burns, Romolo Valli, Nora Ricci, Carole Andre, Masha Predit, Leslie French, Franco Fabrizi, Sergio Garfagnoli, Luigi Battaglia, Ciro Cristofoletti, Dominique Darel, Mireilla Pompili, Bruno Baschetti
Director: Luchino Visconti
Director: Luchino Visconti
Story: Thomas Mann
Screenwriter: Luchino Visconti, Nicola Badalucco
Producer: Luchino Visconti
Composer: Gustav Mahler
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Reviews for Death in Venice
Can never get to the literary heart of the novel without stumbling along on a curiously suffocating course.
Visconti's mastery of visual style almost succeeds in creating the very ideas and feelings that his heavy-handed narrative entirely misses.
A sumptuous visual feast, a well-told tale of a tortured artist’s sturm und drung.
Visconti's self-conscious and self-reflexive artistry can be off-putting, but with Death in Venice, he's crafted a sumptuous feast for the senses.
Bogarde plays Gustav with a hamfist, practically drooling over the kid he's stalking
Despite the omissions from Mann's text, dependence on flashbacks, and overwrought arguments about art and music between Aschenbach and a colleague, it remains a film of great beauty.
Instead of bringing the story to life, Visconti has, I'm afraid, embalmed it.
Not even the classical soundtrack can turn this ponderous portrait of one man's obsession into the cinematic classic it has so often been mistaken for.
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
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| 66% 66% | Public Enemies |
| 83% 83% | Harry Potter and the H… |
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| 75% 75% | Julie & Julia |
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| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
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| 88% 88% | Inglourious Basterds |
| 78% 78% | The Hangover |
| 49% 49% | Taking Woodstock |
| 26% 26% | The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard |
| 47% 47% | The Girl From Monaco |
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