Release Date: 2/17/2004 Original Release: 1971 Format: DVD Length: 131 minutes Rating:PG (MPAA) Rating Reason: (Reason unavailable) UPC: 085392888122 Studio: Warner Home Video
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.
DVD Features
Region 1 Snap Case Widescreen - 2.39 Audio: Mono - English Subtitles - English, French, Spanish Additional Release Material: Featurette: "Behind-the-Scenes" Trailers: Theatrical Trailer Text/Photo Galleries: Photo Galleries
Related Items
People who purchased Death in Venice DVD also purchased:
According to my flaming, old Uncle JEETS (he's my mom's 'out-of-the-closet' brother), this tacky, sordid flick was one of HARVEY MILK's favorites of all time. I guess my Uncle JEETS knows what he's... Read the whole review at MatchFlick
