SENSO (THE WANTON COUNTESS) (1954) B/W & C 120m dir: Luchino Visconti

w/Alida Valli, Farley Granger, Massimo Girotti, Heinz Moog, Christian Marquand

Tragic tale of a noblewoman who sacrifices her marriage for a handsome but cowardly soldier. Beautifully photographed and sublimely romantic.

From Georges Sadoul's Dictionary of Films: "This large budget spectacular is one of the most beautiful Italian films ever made and one whose expressive colors and luxurious period setting are never used merely as a decorative backdrop. Its style seems almost operatic and, in fact, the film opens with a tribute to Giusseppe Verdi, whose opera gives rise to an Italian demonstration in the theater. Visconti makes brilliant use of the Italian landscape and existing setting: the old streets of Venice through which the countess goes to meet her lover; the splendid country house at Aldano, which shelters their love; and the stone ramparts of Verona .... Each and every word and phrase of the dialogue is used to develop the drama and the psychology of the characters.

"Visconti (aristocrat by birth, Marxist by conviction) offers in Senso an extraordinary portrait of a decadent and corrupt aristocracy in which Livia's [Valli] seduction and treachery and Franz's [Granger] cowardice and deceit are an inevitable result of their environment.

"Senso also depicts the Risorgimento of the Italian people as they fight for the freedom and unification of their country. A high point of the film is the battle during which a young marquis (Girotti) vainly pleads with his superiors for the use of the ordinary Italian people in the fighting. This sequence was cut by the Italian censors and, without it, the tragic destiny of the of the two lovers no longer seems so closely tied to the destiny of a nation.

"Alida Valli gives a superb interpretation of the countess ravaged by age, passion, and misery, and Farley Granger is convincing as the wretched Franz.

"Senso was a critical failure and had only a limited commercial success. Many critics bewailed Visconti's betrayal of neorealism in favor of 'neoromanticism.' But in retrospect Visconti's baroque qualities are evident even in La Terra Trema ... and Ossessione ... and reached their height in The Leopard ... and The Damned .... Senso's reputation has only increased over the years and it is now recognized as a great classic."

The color in the print shown on TCM is quite degraded.