Death in Venice

Luchino Visconti’s 1971 adaptation of Death in Venice from the classic novella by German author Thomas Mann alluringly ponders the relationships between art, beauty, obsession, and death. Dirk Bogarde stars as composer Gustav von Aschenbach, who has retreated to Venice in the midst of illness and after a disastrous concert, in order to recharge physically and spiritually. While recovering, he finds himself drawn to an adolescent Polish boy named Tadzio (Björn Andrésen) and develops an obsessive fixation over his beauty. This desire unfolds amidst a city reeling from a cholera epidemic, creating captivating and evocative friction. Directed in Panavision, filmed in sumptuous Technicolor, and set to the lush music of Gustav Mahler, Visconti’s Death in Venice remains one of the most celebrated literary adaptations in cinema.

Joan Ramon Resina (Iberian and Latin American Cultures, Comparative Literature, Stanford University, author of Luchino Visconti: Filmmaker and Philosopher) will join moderator Stephanie Malia Hom (French and Italian, UCSB) for a post-screening discussion of Death in Venice.