CULT MOVIE: DEATH IN VENICE (1971)

A work of genius or an extra large helping of Venetian ham? Visconti's film tends to be underrated by those who overrate the Thomas Mann book it was based on-- it is not, to be frank, one of the author's major works. The writer in the original is here portrayed as a composer-- loosely based on Mahler, whose music adds much to the film's operatic effect-- who goes to Venice to die of consumption (and/or melancholy) and becomes obsessed with a beautiful young boy. Slow-moving, over-the-top, even camp at times, the film has enough scenes of breathtaking beauty to be worth viewing.
Director: Luchino Visconti Cast: Dirk Bogarde, Mark Burns

Posted in: Cult,Films of the book,movies