Ossessione
by Luchino Visconti
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Clara Calamai, Dhia Cristiani, Elio Marcuzzo, Massimo Girotti, Vittorio DuseDirector: Luchino Visconti
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Subtitled); Italian (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Format: Black & White, DVD-Video, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 135 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2002-07-16
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Image Entertainment
Movie Reviews of Ossessione
Movie Review: A great film survives in poor shape
Summary: 3 Stars
This is a truly great movie. It is the precursor film to the Italian Neo-Realist film movement. You can see many of its scenes were filmed in city streets and that the restaurant is a real building alongside a real highway. It is a wonderful mix of Film Noir and tragic opera.
Sadly, the existing copies of the film survive in poor condition. Some of the outdoor scenes look rather washed out. Other scenes appear dark and grainy. Some flickering is apparent. This is one classic film that is crying out for restoration.
The Image Video disc is pretty good considering the flaws in the quality of the film itself.
I got a new disc through Amazon sellers and when it arrived, it was not the familiar purple Image disc but a Korean disc of the same film. I have nothing against Korean discs; One disc I had of the original "King Kong" was from a better copy of the movie than the new western reissue in stores now.
I wish I could say that about this Korean disc of "Ossessione". The film the disc was mastered from was extremely worn, especially the sprocket holes. As a result some reels of the film jitter up and down in a really annoying manner. There is a spot early in the film where the film broke and was spliced. Fortunately, It takes place so early in the film that it does not affect the flow of the plot.
I've had this type of substitution occur before while buying from Amazon. I think that Amazon sellers should state when the item being sold is not the item pictured.
Summary of Ossessione
Passion turns deadly in this controversial neo-realist classic from acclaimed director Luchino Visconti (Death in Venice), adapted from James M. Cain's "The Postman Always Rings Twice." Beautiful hotel owner Giovanna ("Deep Red's" Clara Calamai) is hopelessly drawn to Gino ("Last Tango in Paris'" Massimo Girotti), a handsome drifter. They decide to kill off her spouse and collect his hefty insurance premium, but soon the lovers are trapped in a spiral of deception, jealousy, and fate. Banned and censored for years, "Ossessione" profoundly affected generations of audiences after causing a stormy religious and political scandal in Italy, and is now available in its original, uncensored director's cut.Ossessione isn't just the finest film version of The Postman Always Rings Twice, James M. Cain's classic tale of murder, betrayal, and erotic obsession; it's also the first masterpiece of Italian neorealism and a key historical precursor of film noir. A handsome drifter (Massimo Girotti) fetches up at an isolated roadhouse, gets mutually besotted with the proprietor's sultry wife (Clara Calamai), and has soon carried out a plot to murder the older man in an apparent off-road accident. That's only the beginning, of course. In his directorial debut, Luchino Visconti weaves a sensuous, tragic spell, born equally of the stark, sun-struck settings--especially those utterly realistic yet somehow otherworldly highways, elevated above the surrounding marshland--and a dynamic camera style that lifts the storytelling to operatic heights. Yet another layer of erotic complication is added by the presence of "La Spagnolo" (Elio Marcuzzo), a philosopher-king of vagabonds who--like the director--is at least as infatuated with Girotti's studly beauty as the heroine is. --Richard T. Jameson
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