Film critic John Francis Lane recalls the furore caused at the 1954 Venice Film Festival by Luchino Visconti's "Senso" starring Alida Valli, Farley Granger
The 1860s. As the Italian independence movement grows in strength, Venice is still occupied by Austrian troops. At a performance of Verdi's "Il trovatore", a young Italian rebel gets into a fight with an Austrian officer. Fearing for her cousin's life Countess Serpieri tries to intercede but loses her heart to the handsome lieutenant. Visconti's gloriously photographed melodrama about sexual and political conflict recalls the extravagance of an Italian opera.
(An Italian film with English subtitles)
IN THE PICTURE: page 38