A Great Foreign Classic Finally Gets a North American DVD Release
Co-written and directed by Luchino Visconti (The Leopard, Death in Venice), the Italian-language Senso (1954) is a beautiful, lush Technicolor film that has never gotten the attention it deserves. But now North American home viewers can enjoy a splendid restored version of this masterpiece on either DVD or Blu-ray from Criterion Collection.
Set in 1866, Senso is a tale of tortured, forbidden love set against a backdrop of war. The style is operatic, and the costumes, sets and locations are extremely visually arresting. The lovers are portrayed by Alida Valli (The Third Man) and Farley Granger (Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train).
The story is that Countess Livia Serpieri (Valli), an Italian aristocrat in a loveless marriage, debases herself when she falls for Lieutenant Franz Mahler (Granger), a good-looking — but not particularly worthy — Austrian soldier who is several years younger than she. Along the way, Livia worsens her degradation by betraying the trust of her cousin, a member of the Italian resistance to the Austrian occupation.
The film's opening sequence, shot in Venice's La Fenice Theater, is dazzling. Later scenes were shot at a charming Palladian villa out in the countryside. There are also impressive scenes depicting the Battle of Custoza, where the Austrians decisively defeated the Italians. In addition, the movie has good music, including excerpts from Verdi's Il Trovatore and Bruckner's Seventh Symphony.
Special Features
Criterion offers Senso as either a two-disc DVD set or as a single Blu-ray disc. The special features, which are outstanding, are the same for either format.
The discs contain two versions of the feature film, the better of the two being the one in Italian with English subtitles. The other, titled The Wanton Countess, is an abridged — about half an hour shorter — English-language version created for the US and UK. Tennessee Williams and Paul Bowles worked on the dialogue for the English-language version, and it's actually their words that were spoken in the scenes between Granger and Valli when the film was shot.
Perhaps the best bonus material is the illuminating 28-minute English-language visual essay on the movie by film scholar Peter Cowie. Another good extra is the 34-minute Italian-language making-of documentary, in which assistant director Francesco Rosi, cinematographer Giuseppe Rotunno, costume designer Piero Tosi and Visconti biographer Caterina D'Amico give the history of the movie.
Also included is a new 36-minute English-language documentary on Visconti and opera, which connects Senso to La Traviata, Tosca and Maria Callas. In addition, there's a 48-minute 1966 BBC special on Visconti's work as a director of film, theater and opera.
Finally, Criterion supplies a worthwhile 36-page booklet containing an insightful essay by Mark Rappaport and excerpts from Farley Granger's autobiography Include Me Out.
Release Date: February 22, 2011
Total Runtime: 2 hours 3 minutes
MPAA Rating: Not Rated