Giulia Boileau
3Jun11
I agree
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K. G. Courtright
16Apr12
The only interesting thing in this lifeless bore is Farley Granger's gorgeous mug.
Howard Orr
5Mar12
A film ostensibly about reckless passion, but really the interiority of Valli's performance means the film takes on the dimension of pensive, tightly-wound tragedy rather than that of lustful abandon. It's no criticism, but I don't believe for a second in Livia's love for, or attraction, toward Franz; infused with Visconti's love of opera, it is a costume and set designer's film, and orchestrated as an aria.
DeJardinblum
5Jan12
Emotional exhaustion and death are the persistent goals of the film, but in its idealism there's little of the hysteria that spontaneously and irrationally conceived romance offers. Visconti's opera wears a tight corset.
Howard Orr likes this
Judicial Joe
23Aug11
The beginning of Visconti's turn from neorealism to rococo cine-operas is beautiful and heartbreaking. Grade: B+.
Erik Villasenor
8Aug11
wow, a sprawling romantic italian period piece, count me in! Senso is a great experience that's both theatrical and cinematic, graceful and harsh, and contains a perfect execution of mood. Some of the scenes could have been tightened up a bit, but it's still a wonderful film.
T.J. Royal
19Jun11
In an operatic mood? Then, hang on tight. The cinematic equivalent of engorgement, a wonderfully overwrought emotional, visual motion picture. The war-time backdrop can be too broad at times for relating to the characters. But I was caught up in the urgency and brute force of the emotion the two mains share for each other (for a time). And each frame is stuffed with beautiful color and eye candy. I really liked this.
David M.K.
23May11
A butt-ugly, unaffecting melodrama with a laughably histrionic performance by lead actress Alida Malli. It's essentially an hour-and-a-half of knuckle biting, swooping around, and passionless canoodling, followed by an oddly sleep-inducing thirty minutes of battle scenes, both in the field and in the bedroom. Plenty of neck veins a-poppin' in these Acting 101 performances.
Giulia Boileau likes this
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Mattia 5
14Jun11
Unfortunately my english is not so good and I love this film too much. So I'm not able to speak about it adequately. Anyway I think your opinion is too drastic. I don't think you have to love Senso, but you can't consider it trash. Ah... this is the best Alida Valli interpretation for me.
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David M.K.
28Jul11
Darn. My life's ambition was to be aesthetically credible to Archie Black. I guess I'll have to find another reason to live...
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Wu Yong
29Jul11
Hey, I'm trying not to be a jerk... but seriously... Visconti has an eye for beauty that... actually I'm uncertain anyone has ever matched it. If you didn't see that you didn't engage, it's really that simple. To quote the great Trinh T. Minh-ha, "Everybody can have an opinion-no more no less, and this has to be acknowledged as such. But to 'criticize' a work , you have to engage in it on its terms while creating new terms." Sorry, but I don't see simplistic dismissals with overwrought and rather meaningless terminology as engaging on any terms. Just plain, simple disengaged, unintelligent rejection-no more no less.
Klaus Capra
27Apr11
Never have I seen the moment of an instantly shattered dream with such untreated reality as when Livia hears the prostitute call out "Franz! Ohh! Franz!". An incredibly effective use of sound.
Mattia 5 likes this
Dally
28Mar11
A beautiful, beautiful film that consumes the viewer as Visconti takes film melodrama to operatic levels of emotion. Some of the context is muddled and Granger is not the strongest but otherwise, superb and delicious.
Mattia 5 likes this
Dan Paolucci
17Dec10
Its melodrama is essential as it serves to show the decadence of the dying Aristocracy and ties in perfectly with the Gramscian re-interpretation of Il Risorgimento. Millicent Marcus wrote an excellent essay on the film.
Border Radio
30Nov10
Ｍｅｌｏｄｒａｍａｓ ａｒｅｎ’ｔ ｒｅａｌｌｙ ｍｙ ｔｈｉｎｇ ａｎｄ ｔｈｉｓ ｉｓ ａｂｏｕｔ ａｓ ｍｅｌｏｄｒａｍａｔｉｃ ａｓ ｔｈｅｙ ｃｏｍｅ． Ｉ ｃａｎ ｕｎｄｅｒｓｔａｎｄ ｔｈｅ ｐｏｓｉｔｉｖｅ ａｔｔｅｎｔｉｏｎ ｉｔ ｒｅｃｅｉｖｅｓ ｆｒｏｍ ｏｔｈｅｒｓ ｔｈｏｕｇｈ．
Howard Fritzson
9Jun09
This extravagantly romantic film features one of the great performances--Valli is magnificent as the countess. I know she was second choice for this role, after Ingrid Bergman, but I cannot see how anyone could have done more with this part than Valli.