Morte a Venezia (1971)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Luchino Visconti

Writers:

Thomas Mann (novel)
Luchino Visconti (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

17 June 1971 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Fantasy

Plot:

In this adaptation of the Thomas Mann novel, avant-garde composer Gustave Aschenbach (loosely based...

Plot Keywords:

Beauty | Boy | Composer | Vacation | Corruption

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 17 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Dirk Bogarde	...	Gustav von Aschenbach
Romolo Valli	...	Hotel manager
Mark Burns	...	Alfred
Nora Ricci	...	Governess
Marisa Berenson	...	Frau von Aschenbach
Carole André	...	Esmeralda (as Carole Andre)
Björn Andrésen	...	Tadzio (as Björn Andresen)
Silvana Mangano	...	Tadzio's mother
Leslie French	...	Travel Agent
Franco Fabrizi	...	Barber
Antonio Appicella	...	Vagrant
Sergio Garfagnoli	...	Jaschu, Polish youth
Ciro Cristofoletti	...	Hotel clerk
Luigi Battaglia	...	Scapegrace
Dominique Darel	...	English tourist

Also Known As:

Death in Venice (Canada: English title) (UK) (USA)
Mort à Venise (France)

Runtime:

130 min

Country:

Italy | France

Language:

English | Italian | Polish | French

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Spain:13 | France:Unrated | West Germany:12 (f) | Portugal:M/12 | Australia:M | Finland:S | Singapore:PG | Sweden:11 | UK:12A (re-rating) (2002) | UK:12 (video re-rating) (2004) | UK:15 (video rating) (1988) | UK:AA (original rating) | USA:GP (original rating) | USA:PG | Ireland:15

Filming Locations:

Banca Commerciale Italiana, St. Mark's Square, Venice, Veneto, Italy

Company:

Alfa Cinematografica

Trivia:

Mark Burns later admitted he never understood the meaning of his dialogue.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: TV aerials clearly visible on Venetian rooftops in one scene.

Quotes:

Gustav von Aschenbach: You know sometimes I think that artists are rather like hunters aiming in the dark. They don't know what their target is, and they don't know if they've hit it. But you can't expect life to illuminate the target and steady your aim. The creation of beauty and purity is a spiritual act.
Alfred: Non Gustav, no. Beauty belongs to the senses. Only to the senses.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Costumes from the Films of Visconti (1978)

Soundtrack:

Sehr Langsam Misterioso From Symphony No.3

Unforgettable romantic drama

Set in Venice mainly on the Lido, Visconti's "Death in Venice" is a triumph of filmmaking combining the excellence of Dirk Bogarde's characterisation and expert photography of the resort area in all its various daily moods. For those who love Venice, this is a film to cherish.

Mahler's music frequently heard throughout the film heightens the drama. The mood it creates is not always happy. But then what else would you expect with a title like that?

There is not a lot of dialogue in the film. Rather sparse in fact. It's mainly background noises and chatter and laughter among the hotel guests. The intriguing part is to interpret the exchange of glances between Gustav von Aschenbach a composer of some renown and a slim teenage youth Tadzio who see each other from time to time across the tables of the hotel dining room, on the beach and at odd unexpected places around Venice. They seem to acknowledge each other's presence shyly at first with little more than the suggestion of a smile but later with a strong and riveting and urgent gaze.

Each viewer will have his own interpretation. The composer has lost a child of his own. Is this behaviour an expression of yearning for the child he loved? Is it perhaps a sexual attraction towards this fragile young man with his dazed somewhat girlish stare? Could he be discovering some new inspiration for a yet unwritten musical masterpiece? Who knows?

From beginning to end this film captures the true spirit of 19th Century Venice. The elegance of the ladies, the deck chairs on the sand, the children frolicking in their neck-to-knee bathing costumes, the glow of sunsets and a general feeling of satisfaction with the world. While some may think the pace is rather slow at times, the film has an overall gentle quality, but with a simmering indecision between two repressed human beings. Be prepared for a sad and beautiful ending.