Death in Venice [DVD video] = Morte a Venezia

A fastidious composer reeling from a disastrous concert, Gustav von Aschenbach (Dirk Bogarde) 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. Based on the novella by Thomas Mann, this late masterpiece from Luchino Visconti is a meditation on the nature of art, the allure of beauty, and the inescapability of death. Setting Mann's story of queer desire and bodily decay against the music of Gustav Mahler, it is one of cinema's most exalted literary adaptations.

General Note:

Title from container.

Based on the novella by Thomas Mann.

Originally released as a motion picture in 1971.

"Restored by Cineteca di Bologna and Istituto Luce-Cinecittà, in collaboration with Warner Bros. and the Criterion Collection, at L'Immagine Ritrovata laboratory. To resume the light, the colors and the nuances sought by Visconti and created by DoP Pasqualino De Santis, the color correction was supervised by Marco Pontecorvo, DoP and De Santis' disciple"--Pre-credits frames.

Special features: Luchino Visconti: life as a novel (2008 documentary); Showing the story (new program featuring literature and cinema scholar Stefano Albertini); Alla ricerca di Tadzio (a 1970 short film about Visconti's efforts to cast the role of Tadzio); Talking about Venice (interview from 2006 with costume designer Piero Tosi ); Musiques au cœur (excerpt from a 1990 program about the music in Visconti's films, featuring Bogarde and actress Marisa Berenson); Visconti à propos de Mort à Venise (segment from the June 2, 1972 episode of the news program Midi magazine with an interview of Visconti); Visconti's Venice (a behind-the-scenes documentary); trailer; booklet essay by critic Dennis Lim.

Performers:

Dirk Bogarde, Romolo Valli, Mark Burns, Nora Ricci, Marisa Berenson, Carole André, Björn Andresen, Silvana Mangano.

Contents:

Disc one. [Feature film + trailer] -- Disc two. [Special features].

Technical Details:

DVD, region 1, NTSC; 16:9 widescreen presentation, 2.35:1 aspect ratio; Dolby digital 1.0 monaural.

Subject Term:

Middle-aged men -- Drama.

Gay men -- Drama.

Vacations -- Italy -- Venice -- Drama.

Geographic Term:

Venice (Italy) -- Drama.