gavin6942 A troubled and neurotic Italian Countess (Alida Valli) betrays her entire country for a self-destructive love affair with an Austrian Lieutenant (Farley Granger).Originally, Visconti had hoped to cast Ingrid Bergman and Marlon Brando in the lead roles, but Bergman was not interested in the part, and Brando was nixed by the producers who considered Granger a bigger star, at the time. This may be the biggest disappointment in retrospect. Brando would have brought the film more recognition, and Bergman is by far the bigger name than Valli. A shame.The romance is interesting regardless. We have it going across borders, across languages. And not at the most opportune of times. It makes for an interesting case study, I suppose.

Cosmoeticadotcom Overall, Senso is worth watching, simply because it is well made fluff that, while not deep nor great, represents an important milestone in European cinema. There are no good, nice, nor even likable characters, but, on a rudimentary level, one can sense the motives of the two leads, even if neither is a character of depth. Thus the film, at least, has a narrative integrity that many melodramas lack, and, once Mahler betrays Livia, it is inevitable that she will damn him. Its use of red herrings and feints of narrative and character development is well done: such as when Livia is told, upon the Count's wanting to leave Venice, that a man came to call on her, she assumes it is Mahler, is followed by the Count, and, when confronted, confesses to having a lover, only to find out the man who called was Ussoni. The Count thereby assumes her revelation of a lover was a ruse to protect Ussoni, whom the Count has little use nor respect for. It's these sorts of moments that lift Senso above run of the mill melodrama, albeit, like Gone With The Wind, not far enough into real drama. If only Visconti had been able to graft a small bit of his working class affinities by showing a bit more of the struggles of the Italian Resistance, Senso may have hurdled that bar. Sans that, Senso lives up to its titular billing, as but a sensual comfort. And all can use a bit of that from time to time.

clivey6 Some months back I rented Tinto Brass' Senso 45 aka Dark Angel, in which a Venetian countess embarks on an adulterous affair with a German soldier during the dying months of World War II.I was intrigued to learn it was a saucy remake of a 1954 film, Senso. This film follows much the same plot, except 1) There is no full blown sex orgy in which a conga line is led by a woman in stockings and suspenders and Nazi uniform carrying a large golden dildo and 2) It's not set during the same era but during the time of the Italian unification; 1866, Garibaldi and all that. So the Italians are fighting to oust the Austrian empire from the northern states and secure independence.The countess has a cousin fighting for the Italian cause, so her adultery is a double betrayal.Watchable stuff and interesting to compare with the Brass effort, which although a load of cobblers did have some lovely cinematography and shots of Venice in it. This earlier film is a good companion piece to Visconti's The Leopard.

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.