Death in Venice

In the Visconti version, the emphasis is more on the physical aspects of the story. Never has Venice looked more beautiful and alluring, more decadent and effete. If you've read the novella, it's like having the descriptions on its pages come to life. Dirk Bogarde gives an outstanding performance as Gustav von Aschenbach. Although he has very little dialogue, he conveys the bitterness, aroused passion and finally, pitiful yearning of Aschenbach through facial expressions alone. Bjorn Andresen, the actor who plays Tadzio, the beautiful young boy who is the object of Aschenbach's desire, was perfectly cast. He too plays the part with facial expressions and gestures. The Tadzio character is pivotal to the story, so any actor in this role must be worthy of inspiring passion and desire. Visconti, with his incredible eye for beauty, knew exactly what was he doing. And changing Ashenbach from a writer to a composer based on Gustav Mahler, and then using Mahler's music, especially the Adagietto from the 5th Symphony, was another brilliant stroke. Although I'd read the Mann story before the film, Mahler's music and Death in Venice will always be inextricably linked in my mind. As will the haunting images which appear throughout the film, especially that last one of Ashenbach dying on the beach as Tadzio walks slowly into the water.

This films begs for DVD presentation in widescreen format with its soundtrack digitally enhanced. It also deserves to be restored to original full length. It may be slow moving with little action, but its rewards are many.


Visconti's heart-breaking vision of unrequited love   April 27, 1999
67 out of 72 found this review helpful

When I saw "Death In Venice" I was haunted by it's images for weeks. To this day, I cannot think upon this film without again experiencing some of the original feelings that it inspired. This is not, without question, an easy film to watch. The dialogue is sparse and the music is basically limited to Mahler's gorgeous Adagietto from Symphony No. 5. Notwithstanding, never has the marriage of music and film been more vital or more atmospheric. Mahler's haunting music was seemingly composed for this film and the effect is chilling. Dirk Bogarde is perfection as the bitter, vitriolic Gustav Aschenbach, a man so consumed with what he considers ideal beauty that he welcomes his own destruction for a moment in it's company. The young Bjorn Andresen is, too, equally captivating as the object of Aschenbach's obsession. Even though his role is essentially a non-speaking one, what he achieves within the lmiits of the role is extraordinary. The beautiful and elegant Silvana Mangano is on screen too infrequently for my taste, but her contribution is nonetheless wonderful. At times I found myself enveloped by this film, as if though I were a guest of the grand hotel quietly seated on a wicker chair watching these events unfold before me. Venice has never been more tangible on film than it is here. Do yourself a favor and watch this masterpiece of a film. One warning, though; "Death in Venice" is a devastating film and it takes it's toll on the viewer. Watch it in the company of loved-ones and on a beautiful, sunny day.


They got it.   January 23, 2005
Samuel Chell (Kenosha,, WI United States)
20 out of 21 found this review helpful

I wasn't too hopeful when I screened this film for 15 students immediately after reading Mann's masterpiece. In fact, I considered going instead with Von Sternberg's/Emil Jannings' "The Blue Angel" as a comparable narrative and proven cinematic success. But Visconti crafts a hypnotic and compelling film while Bogarde turns in the performance of his life. The lush cinematography and rich Mahler score are no mere "window dressing" but the very heart of the narrative, making the Dionysian currents that lap the Venice shores as irresistible to the attentive viewer as to the character of Aschenbach himself. I've never felt quite the same about a screen character--at once a pitiful caricature, his make-up melting under the hot Venice sun, and a noble figure who chooses his destiny.

This isn't a film for everyone. But as the final Mahler note was being sounded, one spectator excitedly whispered to me, "They got it." That's good enough for me.


A study in cinematic poise   March 3, 2006
Ludix (Upton, MA United States)
19 out of 21 found this review helpful

Visconti's film is significantly different from Mann's classic story. Aside from the obvious changes (Aschenbach being a composer instead of a writer, etc), there are many subtle touches that deepen the ambiguity of the character. For example: In the book, Aschenbach's wife is dead, and his daughter is grown up and married away. In the film, his daughter dies in childhood, and it is not clear whether his wife is alive or not when he visits Venice.

Another reviewer here called the film "ambient"; I would add the word "poised." The camera lingers on scenes for many minutes; observations occur in planes of depth. The acting is often extremely subtle. The young man who plays Tadzio looks as if he is sculpted of alabaster. Compositions, lighting, settings, costumes and makeup are simply exquisite. Imagine if this had been photographed in 65mm!

DEATH IN VENICE probably looks better here than it ever did in theaters. The DVD transfer is superb, based on what appears to be a spotless, pristine source. The wide Panavision aspect ratio is faithfully preserved, anamorphically enhanced for 16:9 TVs. Sadly, the original monaural soundtrack has not been remixed for stereo; but execept for some occasionally muffled dialog (which may be intentional), it still sounds very good.

The post-MTV generation will find this film tough going. Don't buy this if you're hoping to see police gondolas flip over and explode. :)


A TALE OF SOUL'S MIGRATION   November 16, 2000
L. S. Slaughter (Chapel Hill, NC)
17 out of 21 found this review helpful

Contrary to cursory readings and summaries, I still maintain this is not simply a story about homosexual love, per se, or, more clearly, it's not about pursuing sex, nor simply a yarn about an older man pining for a young male. I'm just as startled to see that one reviewer actually read it as a fable of pederasty! I have never seen it EITHER way, but if it was a homosexual tale, that would be fine, too. It is, however, not to be confused with any 'gay' cinema of the last ten or twenty years. (The youth 'Tadzio' could just as easily be a young girl, but then I guess the same people would read this as a tale about a dirty old straight man. Who can tell!? Visconti tried to make the boy as androgynous as he could to shed light on matters, but his gesture still seems lost).

I think Visconti is trying to hit a different note, and he suceeds for those who are at a stage in life to see it. Yes, Visconti was homosexual, AND he made this film late in life, so I believe his concerns were not lodged in his loins, but in his heart and mind. The text here is very Jungian, not Freudian.

This is a sweet and ethereal film about aging, and the bittersweet longing for one's youth, and the gradual, transcendent awakening one experiences when one encounters one's 'self' reflected in a younger image, and the myriad emotions as one first covets the younger as a separate entity, then eases into a bigger, more spiritual realization that the younger image IS oneself picking up the beat where he is leaving off.

And, no, we're not talking 'Lolita'. This is not a story of lust and passions. It's, moreover, about the day when cholera comes to shake off the soul's old cage as one bids Welcome to a new generation.

Nothing elucidates this clearer than the final image when Tadzio points ther protagonist towards the Great Beyond at the edge of the Venetian Lagoon.

Cinematically, this is probably one of Visconti's more restrained efforts, but few moments in cinema can rival the opening images of Venice emerging from the fog in the early morning as Mahler's music plays over.

It's slow-going for younger audiences raised on MTV, but the more thoughtful types will find it a worthwhile tour of dear old Venice, and the human soul in transition from life, to death, to life again.

It's not quite the Thomas Mann story from which it was adapted, but it's pretty darned great.