Death in Venice
Based on the classic novella by Thomas Mann, this late-career masterpiece from Luchino Visconti is a meditation on the nature of art, the allure of beauty, and the inescapability of death. A fastidious composer reeling from a disastrous concert, Gustav von Aschenbach (Dirk Bogarde, in an exquisitely nuanced performance) travels to Venice to recover. There, he is struck by a vision of pure beauty in the form of a young boy named Tadzio (Björn Andrésen), his infatuation developing into an obsession even as rumors of a plague spread through the city. Setting Mann’s story of queer desire and bodily decay against the sublime music of Gustav Mahler, Death in Venice is one of cinema’s most exalted literary adaptations, as sensually rich as it is allegorically resonant.
Special Features
- New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
- Luchino Visconti: Life as in a Novel, a 2008 documentary about the director, featuring Visconti; actors Burt Lancaster, Silvana Mangano, and Marcello Mastroianni; filmmakers Francesco Rosi and Franco Zeffirelli; and others
- Alla ricerca di Tadzio, a 1970 short film by Visconti about his efforts to cast the role of Tadzio
- New program featuring literature and cinema scholar Stefano Albertini
- Interview from 2006 with costume designer Piero Tosi
- Excerpt from a 1990 program about the music in Visconti’s films, featuring Bogarde and actor Marisa Berenson
- Interview with Visconti from 1971
- Visconti’s Venice, a short 1970 behind-the-scenes documentary featuring Visconti and Bogarde
- Trailer
- PLUS: An essay by critic Dennis Lim
New cover by Cliff Wright
Special Features
- New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
- Luchino Visconti: Life as in a Novel, a 2008 documentary about the director, featuring Visconti; actors Burt Lancaster, Silvana Mangano, and Marcello Mastroianni; filmmakers Francesco Rosi and Franco Zeffirelli; and others
- Alla ricerca di Tadzio, a 1970 short film by Visconti about his efforts to cast the role of Tadzio
- New program featuring literature and cinema scholar Stefano Albertini
- Interview from 2006 with costume designer Piero Tosi
- Excerpt from a 1990 program about the music in Visconti’s films, featuring Bogarde and actor Marisa Berenson
- Interview with Visconti from 1971
- Visconti’s Venice, a short 1970 behind-the-scenes documentary featuring Visconti and Bogarde
- Trailer
- PLUS: An essay by critic Dennis Lim
New cover by Cliff Wright
Cast
- Dirk Bogarde
- Gustav von Aschenbach
- Romolo Valli
- Hotel manager
- Mark Burns
- Alfred
- Nora Ricci
- Tadzio’s governess
- Marisa Berenson
- Frau von Aschenbach
- Carole André
- Esmeralda
- Björn Andrésen
- Tadzio
- Silvana Mangano
- Tadzio’s mother
- Leslie French
- Travel agent
- Franco Fabrizi
- Barber
- Antonio Appicella
- Vagrant
- Sergio Garfagnoli
- Jaschu
- Ciro Cristofoletti
- Hotel clerk
- Luigi Battaglia
- Scapegrace
- Dominique Darel
- English tourist
- Masha Predit
- Russian tourist
Credits
- Director
- Luchino Visconti
- Produced by
- Luchino Visconti
- Screenplay by
- Luchino Visconti
- Screenplay by
- Nicola Badalucco
- From the novella by
- Thomas Mann
- Director of photography
- Pasqualino De Santis
- Assistant director
- Albino Cocco
- Editor
- Ruggero Mastroianni
- Art director
- Ferdinando Scarfiotti
- Costume designer
- Piero Tosi
- Music by
- Gustav Mahler
- Production supervisor
- Egidio Quarantotto
- Production manager
- Anna Davini
- Executive producer
- Mario Gallo
- Associate executive producer
- Robert Gordon Edwards
A scene from Death in Venice
