Death In Venice

Starring: Bjorn Andresen, Dirk Bogarde Director: Luchino Visconti Original UK Premiere: 1971 Dvd Release: 12th April, 2004 Number Of Discs: 1 Format: PAL, Region 2 Encoding

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The novel Death in Venice was written in German by Thomas Mann & was first published in 1912 as Der Tod in Venedig. It is often said to be Manns most important short narration. A film version directed by Luchino Visconti was made in 1971, with Dirk Bogarde as Gustav von Aschenbach & Bjorn Andresen as Tadzio. Benjamin Britten wrote an operatic version of the story on a libretto by Myfanwy Piper. Gustav von Aschenbach, knowing he has only a short time to live, travels to Venice, where he becomes obsessed with the androgynous beauty of the adolescent boy Tadzio. An epidemic of Asiatic cholera has just broken out & von Aschenbach plans to leave but changes his mind because of Tadzio, even though he never even has the opportunity to talk to the boy. Eventually Gustav dies on the Lido beach. In the film, von Aschenbach is a composer; in the original book, he is a writer. The character of Aschenbach has been said to be based in part on the composer Gustav Mahler. Free eBook of Der Tod in Venedig   at Project Gutenberg — German language version.

Luchino Viscontis adaptation of the Thomas Mann story Death in Venice is the very definition of sumptuous: the costumes & sets, the special geography of Venice, & the breathtaking cinematography combine to form a heady experience. At the centre of this gorgeousness is Aschenbach , a controlled intellectual who unexpectedly finds himself obsessed by the vision of a 14-year-old boy while on a convalescent vacation in 1911. Visconti has turned Aschenbach into a composer, which accounts for the lush excerpts from Mahler on the soundtrack . Even if it tends to hit the nail on the head a little too forcefully, & even if Visconti can test ones patience with lingering looks at crowds at the beach & hotel dining rooms, Death in Venice creates a lushness rare in movies.

Bjorn Johan Andresen was born in Stockholm, Sweden on 26 January 1955. He is most famous for playing the fourteen year old Tadzio in the Luchino Visconti screen adaptation of the Thomas Mann novella, Death in Venice. He was apparently chosen for his good looks & the fact that director Visconti believed his face to be ideal for the role of the boy with whom the character Gustav von Aschenbach is besotted. His picture was also used, against his consent, on the front cover of the book The Beautiful Boy by Germaine Greer. Despite his complaints the publishers had permission to use the photograph from the photographer. Andresen has also appeared in several other films. These include Pelikaanimies, Kojan & Smugglarkungen. He currently lives with his wife & daughter, Robin, in Stockholm.

Editors Choice: Death In Venice, View DVDology

Derek Jules Gaspard Ulric Niven van den Bogaerde, better known by the stage name Dirk Bogarde, was an actor. Bogarde was born in the London suburb of Hampstead, of mixed Dutch-British ancestry. He joined the army & served in World War II, after which his good looks helped him begin a career as a film actor. His 1950 appearance as the criminal who shot P,C. George Dixon in The Blue Lamp launched him as a lead player, but it was the comedy, Doctor in the House, that made him a star. He quickly became a matinee idol. During the 1960s & 1970s, Bogarde gradually abandoned his heart-throb image for more challenging parts, such as the ex-Nazi in The Night Porter, a bored University professor in Accident, and, most notably, as Gustav von Aschenbach in Death in Venice. Bogarde never married and, even during his lifetime, was reported to be homosexual. For many years he shared a home with a male friend, but repeatedly denied that their relationship was anything other than platonic. Posters Of Dirk Bogarde

Editors Choice: A Bridge Too Far, Death In Venice, The Damned, King And Country, Doctor In Distress, The Servant, Victim, A Tale Of Two Cities, View DVDology

Luchino Visconti, Duke of Modrone was an Italian theatre & cinema director & writer. Born into a noble & wealthy family in Milan, at the age of 30 he went to Paris & began his filmmaking career as third assistant director in Jean Renoir s Une partie de campagne, thanks to the intercession of a common friend, Coco Chanel. After a short tour to the U,S. where he visited Hollywood, he returned to Italy to be Renoirs assistant again, this time for La Tosca, a production that was interrupted & later completed by German director Karl Koch because of the war. Together with Roberto Rossellini, Visconti joined the salotto of Vittorio Mussolini & here presumably met also Federico Fellini. Ossessione, the first neorealist movie. Visconti was also a celebrated theatre director. During the years 1946-1960 he directed many performances of the Rina Morelli - Paolo Stoppa Company, with Vittorio Gassmann & several operas, including a famous revival of Donizetti s Anna Bolena at La Scala in 1957 with Maria Callas. Posters Of Conversation Piece

Editors Choice: Conversation Piece, Death In Venice, The Damned, Rocco And His Brothers, The Leopard, La Terra Trema, Ossessione, View DVDology

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