Ossessione ("Obsession", 1943)
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No rest for the wicked. This month, we're getting steamy with a feverish exploration of desire, betrayal, and obsession in the rural Italian countryside. Join us as we dive into Luchino Visconti's debut film, a particularly lurid adaptation of The Postman Always Rings Twice...
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OSSESSIONE ("Obsession", 1943)
Dir. by Luchino Visconti
Watch in full here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLQjMxolqxA
Also available to rent on Amazon Prime.
Not love or lust, but something darker and rawer. When the charming, disillusioned Gino arrives at a roadside inn, he quickly falls for the sultry and volatile Giovanna, who is trapped in an oppressive marriage to a much older, ailing husband. What follows is a magnetic, morally ambiguous tango between the two, marked by escalating tension and a descent into human soul's darkest instincts. What does doing the right thing look like in a world that is not only scarred by incredible violence, but incredible passion?
A sensual, noirish tale of doomed passion, Visconti's first film stages all the haunting hostility of World War II as an erotic thriller that shows human nature at its most destructive. Let's talk about it!
*As a reminder, be sure to finish the film before coming to discussion!
Ossessione ("Obsession", 1943)