Review of Senso (1954) by Harpreet S — 12 Nov 2011

If you scanned a plot summary beforehand, you probably could enjoy "Senso" just as much without subtitles. The story is simple, the dialogue is merely functional and visual imagery is easily the film's chief lure.

Ever a lover of period pageantry, director Luchino Visconti takes us back to Venice in 1866. Italy is on the verge of liberating itself from Austrian rule, but this doesn't really matter. For movie purposes, all we need to know is that married countess Livia (Alida Valli) and Austrian officer Franz (Farley Granger, dubbed in Italian) are irresistibly drawn to each other, despite their opposing social class and political background. Except Franz isn't all that he pretends to be, and Livia is a fool. Livia also wishes to help a rebel cousin (Massimo Girotti) who has been banished by the Austrian regime, but his subplot -- apparently not found in the original novella -- is poorly resolved.

Neither of the romantic leads are appealing: Valli has a hard face and a melodramatic acting style, while Granger is effete and weaselly. He also wears hoisted-up military pants that give him such an atomic wedgie that I tittered whenever his back was to the camera.

"Senso" opens with a striking sequence at an opera performance (Verdi's "Il Trovatore"), but the remaining music (borrowed from Anton Bruckner) is rather mushy. What the film does have is exquisite costumes, locations and colors. Picture rotting stone and verdigris-stained copper -- the film sticks closely to this spectrum, creating a rustic climate of faded splendor. Spacious, deep-focus shots are everywhere, and every inch of the frame is carefully decorated and choreographed. The battle scenes are well-staged, and include some memorable use of haystacks.

However, there's no getting past the lovers' charmlessness. With "The Leopard," Visconti was more successful in finding an interesting cast and story to fit his baroque flourishes.