Senso

+ intro by season curator and film critic Christina Newland

A hysterical but sublimely beautiful melodrama of lust and obsession in 19th-century Italy.

  • Director

    Luchino Visconti

  • With

    Alida Valli, Farley Granger, Massimo Girotti

  • Italy 1954. 123min

  • 35mm

  • Certificate

    PG

  • English subtitles

A breathtakingly beautiful melodrama, Visconti’s first colour film – shot in Technicolor – unfolds against the stormy canvas of Italy’s Risorgimento. Alida Valli is lovestruck Italian Countess Serpieri, so driven by infatuation that she is willing to betray her family and homeland for the attentions of Farley Granger’s Franz, a caddish, social-climbing Austro-Hungarian soldier – and ostensibly the enemy. A masterclass in the portrayal of tragic obsession.

35mm courtesy of Cinecittà.

See other screenings of Senso.

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