DIRECTOR: Luchino Visconti
Gustav von Aschenbach (played by Dirk Bogarde), a German composer modeled after the Thomas Mann’s literary character 9see below) arrives in Venice hoping for peace and renewal. He encounters Tadzio (Björn Andrésen), a Polish adolescent whose beauty embodies the perfection Aschenbach has long sought in art. Aschenbach becomes increasingly captivated, watching Tadzio from afar, interpreting him as a symbol of idealized beauty and purity. Venice is quietly suffering from a cholera epidemic, which authorities attempt to conceal from tourists. The disease symbolizes corruption and mortality undermining Aschenbach’s pursuit of beauty. Aschenbach’s obsession deepens even as his health deteriorates. He undergoes a grotesque makeover to appear youthful, further highlighting his decline. On the beach, Aschenbach watches Tadzio one last time as the boy gestures toward the horizon. Overcome, Aschenbach collapses and dies, his vision of beauty forever unattainable.
After “The Damned,” director Luchino Visconti and actor Dirk Bogarde collaborated on adapting the Thomas Mann 1912 novella “Death in Venice.” The result is a gorgeous, if somewhat slow-moving, tour de force. Visconti’s (and co-writer Nicola Badalucco) inspiration was changing von Aschenbach’s profession, from a writer to a composer, thus opening up the movie to the magnificent Gustav Mahler Adagietto from his Symphony No.5.
Tadzio, the composer’s object of beauty, was presented to the world after a massive Visconti-lead talent search. The actor’s name is Bjorn Andresen, who, contrary to general opinion, did NOT vanish from the face of the Earth after the movie was completed. He was recently seen, to great effect, in Ari Aster’s “Midsommar”.
NOW STREAMING ON AMAZON PRIME, APPLE TV+, YOUTUBE
70 Queer Films Made Under the Hays Code (1934-1967)
70 Queer Films Made Under the Hays Code (1934-1967) Table Summary
https://thebrownees.net/70-queer-films-of-the-new-hollywood-1967-1981
70-Queer Films of the New Hollywood (1967-1981) Table Summary
