Venezia, spring of 1866, in the last days of the Austrian occupation. A troubled and neurotic Italian Countess betrays her entire country and puts her marriage and political principles on the line by engaging in a torrid and self-destructive love affair with a dashing Austrian lieutenant.

One of the great melodramas of cinema, with Senso Luchino Visconti fully leaves behind his neorealist origins for the opulence and splendor of rich people and their tumultuous emotional and romantic lives. A true feast for the senses, with unforgettable turns by Farley Granger and Alida Valli.