Senso (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]

Visconti loved to have beautiful women in his films and make them look even more beautiful and so he does with Alida Valli. The color is brilliant and enlivens every scene. The anti-hero, Farley Granger, is at his most handsome...I'm sure Visconti had his eyes on him. Massimo Girotti, probably the most handsome man in film for all time, plays the uncle of Valli. He's aged but still handsome. Valli's degradation is a terrible thing to behold. Visconti sometimes seemed to like degrading women in his films. If you remember the rape scene of Annie Giradot in Rocco and his Brothers you'll know what I mean. The story was written by Camillo Boito, brother of the great librettist and composer Ettore Boito.In his memoirs, Granger talks about his having his way with every man or woman who played with him in his many films. He was one actor who had to go to Europe when it was discovered he was gay. His conceit is not attractive. Character means something after all.

I had never seen this film - I was born and grew up in Puerto Rico and, when it was released I was a child - ; we had no "revival" movie theaters then. Since I've made my home in this country since '75, I've no idea who things may be there now. I'm glad I purchased it. Many think it's minor Visconti; I am not among them. Visconti, though Milanese, adored Venice (as I do). He deliberately chose to begin the film at La Fenice it was not a frivolous decision. When I visited Venice in 2004 La Fenice had burned down so, there was nothing to see there; I happen to have a "knack" for being allowed into buildings that are being restored. To become concrete, were this minor Visconti, why would have Criterion bothered to restore it lovingly?It arrived timely and is new, as described by the seller. I urge all film lovers to purchase it.

Criterion has made lots of people very happy with this comprehensive release of Luchino Visconti's 1954 masterpiece SENSO. Loosely based on Camillo Boito's novella of the same name, SENSO is the story of a doomed love affair, set during the turmoil of Austria-occupied Italy in 1866.During a performance of "Il trovatore" at La Fenice, the Countess Livia (Alida Valli) meets Austrian officer Franz Mahler (Farley Granger). The two fall into a torrid love affair, which is made all the more scandalous because of their individual loyalties. When Franz begs Livia to give him the money he needs in order to bribe certain officials and exit the army, Livia reluctantly hands over the Italian partisan funds that were entrusted to her by her cousin, exiled because of his actions in trying to undermine the Austrian army. When she later receives a rather strange letter from Franz, Livia follows him back to Verona, where her ever-crumbling sanity reaches the breaking point...SENSO is a delicate piece which borders on the operatic. It's not by coincidence that shortly after this film, Luchino Visconti became one of the most prolific opera directors in Europe. Leading actors Alida Valli and Farley Granger both deliver superb performances, but the star of SENSO is undoubtedly the bewitching Ms Valli, who in her performance as the Countess Livia, is almost an opera heroine in real-life.Lush in it's design and photography, it's strange to think that SENSO sadly didn't make much of an impression during it's original release in 1954. Critics felt that Luchino Visconti was "betraying" his neo-realist attitudes, not quite realising that in SENSO he beautifully blended neo-realism with theatrical grandeur, therefore creating a whole new genre of filmmaking.Criterion's two-disc DVD package includes the seldom-seen English language dub of SENSO entitled "The Wanton Countess", which is significantly shorter than the original Italian cut. The English dub is noteworthy in that both Farley Granger and Alida Valli's voices can finally be heard. The print of "The Wanton Countess", supplied by Harvard University, isn't in the best shape, with lots of jumps and splices; Aldo Graziati's colour photography is dulled considerably with the film sadly looking like it's been soaked in brown tea. Rest assured that the original Italian cut of SENSO looks crisp and beautiful by comparison.

Criterion gives us another opulent masterpiece from Luchino Visconti to follow their splendid release of IL GATTOPARDO (THE LEOPARD). The blu-ray has a rich, Technicolor density that beautifully captures the evocative, lush location photography by Guiseppe Rottuno, and is another splendid restoration of classic Italian cinema, under the supervision of Rottuno and Martin Scorsese.SENSO is expressionistic filmmaking by a master, full of homoerotic tension in the guise of deranged, heterosexual passion. There is both the original Italian and the rarely-seen, English language version (THE WANTON COUNTESS) to savor here, along with some insightful extras about Verdi, Visconti and the making of the film.A remarkable film can now be appreciated in a high-quality US release for home screenings.

Muy buena edición de una de las mejores películas de Visconti y una delicia visual y magníficas interpretaciones.La lástima es que criterion no abra más el mercado a España, con doblajes en castellano o subtítulos en español.

Great Quality in such an amazing CLASSIC.

Glad to have now this "italian"-movie on blu-Ray with bonus-materials, which are interesting, incl. the booklet.Picture and sound are good restored.Very interesting, the blu-ray disc contains two movie version: the italian spoken with english subtitled version, and the english dubbed version without subtitle.Hm, somebody has noticed, that the DVD Cover show this picture and not used the movie poster. Hm... I had the same mind when I saw it. I wish they had used the movie poster but well...

This version of the wonderful masterpiece "Senso" is a huge deceit, incomprehensible from The Criterion Collection. What happened? Why these ugly colors? Why to try to "cook" the colors? Not to recommend. Buy the european "Studio Canal" version...