Senso - Luchino Visconti

I am a big fan of Alfred Hitchcock. After watching "Rope" and "Strangers on a Train," I fell for Farley Granger. I decided I needed to see more of his work. I had heard a lot about this film "Senso" by Luchino Visconti and got the first disc of the Criterion Collection via Netflix. I knew very little about this film. Previously I had watched Visconti's "Ludwig" and thought it was quite good. The story may have been a bit weak, but it was epic and beautiful to watch.

I feel similarly about "Senso." The story is a melodrama about an Italian Countess who falls in love with an Austrian Lieutenant during the Italian-Austrian war of unification. Naturally the Countess is married which causes issues. What makes this film worth watching is the attention to detail that Visconti puts into his sets and costumes. Watching these actors in historic costume - especially the big gowns of the 1880's is amazing. Farley Granger seems great in this role. I write "seems" because in standard Italian-style, the whole film is dubbed. The reason for this, from what I have read, is that most of the big studios in Italy were built quickly and are not soundproof. Because of that they typically had to do voice-overs for all the actors. Of course, this also allows directors like Visconti to use actors who may not speak Italian to the same degree as native Italians, or even speak Italian at all. It looked like Granger was speaking English throughout the film.

But just look how handsome Farley Granger is. For some, that fact by itself will make it a worthwhile watch.