Death in Venice
1971, Drama/Gay and lesbian, 2h 10m
24 Reviews 5,000+ RatingsWhat to know
Luchino Visconti's Death in Venice is one of his emptier meditations on beauty, but fans of the director will find his knack for sumptuous visuals remains intact. Read critic reviews
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Movie Info
Cast & Crew
Gustav von Aschenbach
Tadzio
Tadzio's Mother
Frau von Aschenbach
Alfred
Hotel Manager
Critic Reviews for Death in Venice
All Critics (24) | Top Critics (4) | Fresh (17) | Rotten (7)
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Visconti takes the veneer and calls it furniture. With infinite tedium, he pores over every facet of Tadzio's Botticelli visage.
February 8, 2018 | Full Review… -
Visconti's mastery of visual style almost succeeds in creating the very ideas and feelings that his heavy-handed narrative entirely misses.
October 23, 2004 | Rating: 2.5/4 | Full Review… -
Instead of bringing the story to life, Visconti has, I'm afraid, embalmed it.
May 20, 2003 | Rating: 2/5 -
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.
February 11, 2003 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review… -
An Italian filmmaker, an English actor, and a German novelist walk into the cinema... Magic results.
July 8, 2020 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review… -
It elects to dwell on absence and emptiness, sucking the sweet wound of upper class inertia like one would a cut on the lip or a sore on the tongue.
June 17, 2020 | Rating: 6/10 | Full Review…
Audience Reviews for Death in Venice
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Apr 07, 2008Like the sand in the hourglass, there is no stopping the passage of time. This cinematic achievement is unmatched in its visual eloquence, but remains an emotionally unsatisfying experience. Long shots, slow pans, and silence, only punctuated by Mahlerâs symphonies, create emotional distance. On first appearance, Aschenbach is a man already in decline: His cultured facade doesnât mask an underlying vulgarity. Alienated from his artistic and spiritual impulses, he recognizes an idealized and pure beauty in the form of a pre-pubescent boy, which does nothing to create a more sympathetic character. His realization is much too late, just as the population in Venice is dying from pestilence, and a way of life is dying at the turn of the century. As we follow the boy, it is hard to tell if Tadzioâs glances, poses, and posturing are real or just Aschenbachâs fantasy. During the final scene, we view the sea and sun, the promising horizon formed in the initial scene, but now glittering and hazy. Aschenbach, appearing clown-like with his whitewash and greasepaint, silently observes Tadzio pointing at the sun, and he also reaches out, as if grasping for communion, and dies. Posited on the beach, there is a symbolic, unmanned camera, ready to frame Tadzio in a snapshot. Hauntingly, the final shots rest on Aschenbachâs dripping and smudged death mask, before he is toted off like the sands like garbage. There is a statement about art, beauty, sexuality, and spirituality, residing in this film, but to me it was quite dead.Stefanie C Super Reviewer
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Jan 15, 2008One of the most breathtaking and perfect endings in the history of cinema!Pedro P Super Reviewer
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Jul 02, 2007A classic of Italian cinema! It's very slow -VERY- but it's definitely worth it. The art direction and the cinematography are amazingly beautiful as in almost all of Visconti's films. On the other hand, since the plot is so slow and it requires such empathy to understand the character's motives and his strange attraction towards the boy, it's a love it or hate it movie, no in-betweens. Sometimes it´s hard to follow because the conflict (the inner conflict) that Bogarde's character has in regards of the concept of beauty as well as the awakening of his nostalgia for his family is occasionally unclear. It's a movie one has to feel and give patience to. Oh and don't be encouraged/discouraged by the alleged homosexual love plot, I personally put down that thesis. I think it's much deeper than that.Elvira B Super Reviewer
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Jan 26, 2007Moments of perfection.Jeremy S Super Reviewer
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