Rating: 
Summary: This one really hurts...
Review: "Death in Venice" is a film so constipated by its excessive self-importance that waching it is like trying to pass a ton of coal. In other words, it is an abysmal failure. Like some sick Frankensteinian experiment, three great artists- Mann, Visconti, and Mahler- are fused together into an impenetrable blob of meaningless pretention. The result? A cinematic disaster much more disheartening than the average bomb for the mere fact of its potential, for this is truly an unwatchable sum of some very intriguing parts. I am by no means attacking the slow nature of this film. I am, in fact, an avid fan of the long take (I love Herzog films). But in "Death in Venice", the excruciating pace did more to alienate me as an audience member than enhance the story's drama. Never have I been so acutely aware of my need to urniate as when watching the last half of this film, thinking it over ever five minutes only to be forced back into viewing Hell as this lifeless corpse died its slow, slow death. In the end, the best thing I can say about "Death in Venice" is that the amount of tortured squirming it had me doing in my seat probably increased my "calories-burnt-while-sitting" rate.
Rating: 
Summary: Tod in Venedig + Dr. Faustus = Visconti's "Morte a Venezia"
Review: ...Nobody ... seems to realize that Visconti fused the main character of Mann's 1947 novel "Dr.Faustus" with the writer of his 1911 short story "Death in Venice".
Mahler is just one of many possible characters having inspired Mann / Visconti: August von Platen, Nietzsche or Wagner should also be mentioned.
Ok, this is my ...commentary I couldn't resist to place, maybe some viewers will see something more in this beautiful movie on decadence-culture than just the embarassing passion of a inhibited elder gentleman for an effeminate adolescent.
Rating: 
Summary: How long Warners before the W/S DVD?
Review: Accepting that this thirty year old movie may not be to everyone's taste, I'd just like to add my voice to those who clamour for this movie to be available in restored form on DVD. Unless there are rights issues which are delaying release, where is it? Now that most of the back movie catalog is available on DVD, it is surely unforgiveable that this flawed masterpiece that relies so much for its effect on the beauty both of its wide screen cinematography and the Mahler music score should be withheld from reappraisal. So Warners, where is it? In the meantime five stars for the movie but three stars in 2003 for this grainy square screen VHS version.
Rating:
Summary: Obsession in the Time of Cholera
Review: Based on Thomas Mann's famous novella, Luchino Visconti's DEATH IN VENICE is the account of a middle-aged man and his obsession with a teenage boy. Gustav Aschenbach, a German composer, (Dirk Bogarde) on holiday in Venice in 1911, sees the young Tadzio and his Polish family at the hotel where they are staying and becomes sexually obsessed with him. Visconti has the difficult task of keeping the viewer interested in this sometimes slow-moving film since there is very little dialogue here. (The man and boy never speak.) What Aschenbach is thinking must be shown by facial expressions and body language. Both director and actor, however, are superb in conveying what is going on inside Aschenbach's head. DEATH IN VENICE is a beauty to behold. The opening scenes of the city are lush and beautiful; however, as the film progresses and Aschenbach begins his frenetic attempts to find out why many of the visitors are leaving Venice-- the city fathers are afraid they will lose the tourist lira if they are aware of a cholera outbreak-- the scenery takes on a sinister, deathly quality as the city becomes deserted. Visconti leaves no stone unturned in his attention to detail to create the mood and time period of this movie. Gustav Mahler's music (Bogarde looks a little like the composer) adds the final touch on this nearly flawless production. Visconti is a master director.
Rating:
Summary: Obsession in the Time of Cholera
Review: Based on Thomas Mann's famous novella, Luchino Visconti's DEATH IN VENICE is the account of a middle-aged man and his obsession with a teenage boy. Gustav Aschenbach, a German composer, (Dirk Bogarde) on holiday in Venice in 1911, sees the young Tadzio and his Polish family at the hotel where they are staying and becomes sexually obsessed with him. Visconti has the difficult task of keeping the viewer interested in this sometimes slow-moving film since there is very little dialogue here. (The man and boy never speak.) What Aschenbach is thinking must be shown by facial expressions and body language. Both director and actor, however, are superb in conveying what is going on inside Aschenbach's head. DEATH IN VENICE is a beauty to behold. The opening scenes of the city are lush and beautiful; however, as the film progresses and Aschenbach begins his frenetic attempts to find out why many of the visitors are leaving Venice-- the city fathers are afraid they will lose the tourist lira if they are aware of a cholera outbreak-- the scenery takes on a sinister, deathly quality as the city becomes deserted. Visconti leaves no stone unturned in his attention to detail to create the mood and time period of this movie. Gustav Mahler's music (Bogarde looks a little like the composer) adds the final touch on this nearly flawless production. Visconti is a master director.
Rating: 
Summary: The necessity of evil
Review: Clearly, this is not one of those movies that can be universally recommended: it's slow pace and subject matter clearly place this film in a category that's not easily accessible to all viewers. The trailer for this film is available at the Internet Movie Database, and if it doesn't completely turn you off, you probably will enjoy "Death in Venice" The film is elegantly shot, and it's pacing is so elegaic, you can feel the protagonist slowly loisng his will to fight against his worst instincts. Bogarde's twitchy performance is hugely watchable, and, for such a slow movie with very little dialogue, the big ideas are tossed out in noisy blasts (of course, it helps to have one of the characters as an obnoxious provocateur). Unfortunately, the film suffers from some rather abrupt editing, and the sound mix is awful. The scenery is so important that watching on video is also going to reduce the experience.
Rating:
Summary: A TALE OF SOUL'S MIGRATION
Review: Contrary to cursory readings and summaries, I still maintain this is not simply a story about homosexual love, per se, or, more clearly, it's not about pursuing sex, nor simply a yarn about an older man pining for a young male. I'm just as startled to see that one reviewer actually read it as a fable of pederasty! I have never seen it EITHER way, but if it was a homosexual tale, that would be fine, too. It is, however, not to be confused with any 'gay' cinema of the last ten or twenty years. (The youth 'Tadzio' could just as easily be a young girl, but then I guess the same people would read this as a tale about a dirty old straight man. Who can tell!? Visconti tried to make the boy as androgynous as he could to shed light on matters, but his gesture still seems lost). I think Visconti is trying to hit a different note, and he suceeds for those who are at a stage in life to see it. Yes, Visconti was homosexual, AND he made this film late in life, so I believe his concerns were not lodged in his loins, but in his heart and mind. The text here is very Jungian, not Freudian. This is a sweet and ethereal film about aging, and the bittersweet longing for one's youth, and the gradual, transcendent awakening one experiences when one encounters one's 'self' reflected in a younger image, and the myriad emotions as one first covets the younger as a separate entity, then eases into a bigger, more spiritual realization that the younger image IS oneself picking up the beat where he is leaving off. And, no, we're not talking 'Lolita'. This is not a story of lust and passions. It's, moreover, about the day when cholera comes to shake off the soul's old cage as one bids Welcome to a new generation. Nothing elucidates this clearer than the final image when Tadzio points ther protagonist towards the Great Beyond at the edge of the Venetian Lagoon. Cinematically, this is probably one of Visconti's more restrained efforts, but few moments in cinema can rival the opening images of Venice emerging from the fog in the early morning as Mahler's music plays over. It's slow-going for younger audiences raised on MTV, but the more thoughtful types will find it a worthwhile tour of dear old Venice, and the human soul in transition from life, to death, to life again. It's not quite the Thomas Mann story from which it was adapted, but it's pretty darned great.
Rating:
Summary: Death in Venice, an enduring classic
Review: Dare I admit that I saw Death in Venice in 1971 and can still recall the audience's obvious involvement with many of the scenes. The tape allows the luxury that of course we did not have at the time: the infinite ability to review scenes of great subtlety and power, descriptions of life as it is lived, by all of us, in "Venice", our world. This is not "allegory" but the vision of two artists, Mann and Visconti, describing some universal truths on a small but well-chosen stage. Unfortunately, the tape is not in 70mm wide screen format, thereby greatly undermining the full power of the images that Visconti created and that I can still recall "through the mists of time". In a similar way, we have scratchy recordings of Caruso: not great but better than nothing! However, I notice that there is an increasing trend to reissuing films in their original format, and I would not hesitate to buy another copy of this film if it were in the format that would do it true justice.
Rating:
Summary: Masterpiece....
Review: Death in Venice is an absolute Masterpiece. Brilliant acting, awesome Mahler music, great Thomas Mann story, great photography. Every single shot is a true piece of art. Definately a 'must see'!
Rating:
Summary: Ending life with dignity
Review: Death in Venice is my second favorite movie just because it is so perfectly done. The whole movie can be seen as a cohesive work without flaws. The image of youth and old age is astoundingly beautiful. The great cinematography is translucent yet perfect. Dirk Bogard played his part with the sensitivity which his role demanded. This whole movie has a power which overwhelms you and leaves you stunned at the end. The final image of the boy standing in the sunset is as if Michelangelo had cut him out of stone. A perfect, poetic movie made for those who appreciate the finest cinema has to offer. When I first saw this movie in 1971 I had my ex-wife with me. At he end of the movie she was absolutely stunned and unable to move for a few minutes. I had to coax her out of her seat to come with me. This is a powerful movie.
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