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By
FRANK BEHRENS
The 1971 film "Death in
Venice" is now available on a Warner Bros. DVD. As
many before me have pointed out, for those who
love the Thomas Mann novel on which it is based,
all the ambiguity of the original, and even the
essential point, are lost by changing the main
character from an author to a musician (so he
could be made up to look like Gustave Mahler).
The next point is not necessarily negative:
Luchino Visconti chose to direct this film at a
glacial pace, probably to maintain the tempo of
the Mahler music he uses on the soundtrack. This
gives us time to dwell upon the people at the
hotel, their costumes, hairdos, mannerisms,
determination to have a good time -- all while
Venice and the hero of the piece are coming apart
at the seams.
Another major problem is the young Polish boy to
whom the hero is irresistibly drawn. Not given a
single word of audible dialogue, Bjorn Adresen is
directed to play Tadzio with nothing more than a
series of knowing looks over his shoulder or
increasingly ridiculous poses for the sake of the
older admirer. And to add to the sledgehammer
interpretation, he is given a young male companion
who kisses him on the cheek and rolls around in
the sand with him.
What is as wonderful as the striking photography
and décor is the understated characterization of
Gustav Aschenbach by Dirk Bogarde. Although
Visconti has him suffer a little too much, mostly
in close-ups, we begin to feel his pain. Add to
this the Mahler music—not to mention the music
played as part of the action (tunes from "The
Merry Widow" and "Fur Elise") -- and you have what
amounts to a sociological study of the upper
classes at play in a Venice infected with cholera
and a psychological study of an unsuccessful
composer's infatuation with a boy.
Perhaps Britten's opera on the same story gets
more of what Mann had in mind. Still, there is
enough here for me to recommend this film,
negatives aside, on its own not inconsiderable
merits.
The DVD retains the original widescreen format.
The bonus material is the usual
self-congratulatory stuff praising the director,
some still shots of Venice, and the original
trailer. You can use English, French or Spanish
subtitles if you choose. |
