My third VIsconti film. I don't think I would watch another one of his films in the near future.
I prefer the American version of Cain's novel. That was a lot more dynamic and entertaining.
Parts of Ossessione were overtly dramatic. The use of background score was very jarring at times. The many scenes of brutal realism were too long and boring. Visconti uses long shots for the desolate Italian countryside. I wasn't all that impressed by the "animal lust" (according to some reviewers) portrayed by the two characters .
But if I was asked to list the positives, the performances were excellent. The characterization was fantastic - two tortured souls unable to find pleasure or happiness in any sort of environment. This aspect of the characters is foregrounded just after their first love making session when the female lets it out that she is never going to leave this place because it would mean more dinner invitations from strange men.
An air of despair and forlornness hangs over every frame(especially towards the end). Visconti lays it on thick that these are doomed characters.
The war-time Italy in this film is in direct contrast to the prosperous post-war one in Dino Risi's Il Sorpasso (1962). Both films had somewhat similar endings.
i think its time for a temporary divorce between Visconti and me.
(6/10)
I prefer the American version of Cain's novel. That was a lot more dynamic and entertaining.
Parts of Ossessione were overtly dramatic. The use of background score was very jarring at times. The many scenes of brutal realism were too long and boring. Visconti uses long shots for the desolate Italian countryside. I wasn't all that impressed by the "animal lust" (according to some reviewers) portrayed by the two characters .
But if I was asked to list the positives, the performances were excellent. The characterization was fantastic - two tortured souls unable to find pleasure or happiness in any sort of environment. This aspect of the characters is foregrounded just after their first love making session when the female lets it out that she is never going to leave this place because it would mean more dinner invitations from strange men.
An air of despair and forlornness hangs over every frame(especially towards the end). Visconti lays it on thick that these are doomed characters.
The war-time Italy in this film is in direct contrast to the prosperous post-war one in Dino Risi's Il Sorpasso (1962). Both films had somewhat similar endings.
i think its time for a temporary divorce between Visconti and me.
(6/10)