Death in Venice (1971)

Italian director Luchino Visconti brings Thomas Mann’s short novel to screen in a beautiful radiant way.  This is Visconti’s most gorgeous looking film, proof he was as great a director as most critics claimed.  I was in doubt, especially after seeing The Damned (1969).  But this one sealed the deal for me.  Gustav vacations in Venice.  While staying in a hotel he becomes infatuated by a young teenage boy staying there with his mother.  It’s as intense a crush as any I’ve seen in film.  Soon Venice falls under a cholera outbreak but even though he was planning to leave, he can’t resist staying so he might connect with the young teenager.  Using Gustav Mahler for his score to seduce us into the main character’s passion, Luchino succeeds in doing what most films fail to do and that’s recreate a novel’s inner spirit without feeling like you’re reading a book.   My only complaint is that it does run a bit long at 130 minutes.   I wonder if it could have been edited a bit tighter.  Grade: B+