Diagonaldi Very well executed

Boobirt Stylish but barely mediocre overall

InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Brennan Camacho Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

pekinman For some reason Visconti's early film Senso (1954) eluded me until recently. I had heard of it before but it wasn't until I fell under the spell of Visconti's later masterpiece Il Gattopardo (The Leopard) that I became interested Senso. It's an odd film but not lightweight by any means. The basic story is a tortured potboiler about a passionate, affection-starved Countess, Livia played brilliantly by Alida Valli, and her completely delusional infatuation with a first class cad, a Lieutenant in the Austiran army occupying Venice in the 19th century. This nightmare lover is convincingly done by Farley Granger early in his film career. He had a fascinating face, much more versatile than I remember from his famous Hitchcock performances where he was limited to a naughty baby- face or two. In Senso he looks truly sinister and rapacious.Granger was fortunate in his leading lady because she wrenches a great performance from him in their intense and heart-rending scenes together. Valli was a volcanic actress in her prime. Very beautiful and clearly the fore-runner to Claudia Cardinale, only a much finer actress.The camera work of G. R. Aldo and Robert Krasker is gloriously beautiful and natural. It is in early technicolor and not as vividly retina burning as some of the widescreen epics that were to follow. The only major mistake in Senso is the decision to use Anton Bruckner's 7th Symphony (themes there from) as the ubiquitous melodramatic background. It's not that grand themes aren't apt for this tragic story it's just that grand high classical music (and Bruckner is THE grandest and highest of 19th century romantic composers) doesn't sound right in this film. No expense was spared the sets and costumes so skimping on the all-important, nay, vital musical side seems a little misguided to say the least. Visconti had learned his lesson in this regard by the time he made Il Gattopardo in the early 1960s. Still the same over-heated music but original, well, at least is wasn't Bruckner lifted in chunks from one of his monumental symphonies.Senso is a winner. It seems a bit long about 90 minutes in with 30 minutes to go but it picks up as Alida Valli's character slowly shreds in the final scenes.If you're longing to start a love affair with someone you just met I cannot recommend this film. Otherwise do not hesitate to see this.Granger's voice is dubbed over by the usual Italian voice actor who sounds like a spokesman for detergent. The subtitles seem sensibly translated. But the script is not the main reason to watch this excellent, beautifully filmed minor masterpiece. The photography and Alida Valli's magnificent performance are reasons enough to see this important Italian film.I deduct one star for the Bruckner and another for the homogenized Farley Granger voice- over.

laursene Wonderful movie, and quite unexpected at the time from the neorealist Visconti, finally letting some of the operatic juice flow into his film work. It's also the first of his explorations of Italian history and social change, to be followed by The Leopard and the fantastic Rocco and His Brothers.One caveat: At a screening a couple of years ago at MoMA, I learned that it was the Italian government that was responsible for the snipping of some crucial scenes near the end of Senso, depicting the Battle of Custozza. These were meant to make his critique of the Italian ruling classes and their failure to pull together during this period of the risorgimento more explicit. But apparently the Italian government, fresh from defeat in WW II, didn't like the idea of a major movie showing an Italian army being beaten. So the episode was truncated, leaving a few people scratching their heads about what the point of it all was. Poor Visconti tended to make long movies, and often had trouble getting them shown at the proper length in the US, but this time it was his own government that stymied him!As for the rest: Granger is fine, but it's Valli who gives one of the all-time great move star performances. What a great face! The story is written on it, and the director wisely keeps her the focus of attention.

bmacv Whatever Anton Bruckner had in mind when writing his majestic Seventh Symphony, it probably wasn't as the score to a postwar Italian love story set during the Italian-Austrian conflicts of the Risorgiamento. Though the use of pre-existing classical music as backdrop for films is to be discouraged, here it works in surprising ways. Alida Valli is the Countess Livia Serpieri, in a loveless marriage to an older, collaborationist official. At the opera (Venice's La Fenice during Il Trovatore!) she meets up with a dashing young Austrian officer, Farley Granger. (Digression: After a handful of American films -- They Live by Night, Rope, Side Street, Strangers on a Train -- Granger journeyed to Italy to work with Visconti then fell off the screen for years, only to resurface in a few schlock films in the late 60s and early 70s. What happened to him?) They kindle up a clandestine and dangerous affair -- the wealthy older woman and the manipulative wastrel. After wheedling a small fortune out of her to bribe a doctor who declares him unfit to serve, he dumps her. But hell hath no fury....Luchino Visconti, assisted by the young Franco Zeffirelli -- both were opera directors, too -- pulls out all the stops, ending with a finale reminiscent of Tosca (but with a twist). Senso is a shameless and unforgettable wallow in Italianate passion -- unabashed verismo translated to the silver screen.

theeht This beautifully photographed romance features a great performance by Alida Valli, and Farley Granger in the greatest role of his career. Alida Valli plays a love starved married woman who falls passionately in love with deserter Granger. Like all of Visconti's films, it's emotionally disturbing, but totally superb.