"Death in Venice"

A Scene from the film, "Death in Venice"

On my facebook group, Mansions of the Gilded Age, and my Instagram account I am doing a series about films that take place in the Gilded Age, mostly during the summer. Here is one that I saw many years ago and highly recommend. "Death in Venice", A beautiful film by Luchino Visconti based upon the Thomas Mann novel written in 1912. While the story is excellent, this is one of those films that is so luscious and languorous you could watch and listen to the soundtrack even if there was no dialog. The use of Gustav Mahler's adagietto from his Fifth Symphony and parts of his Third Symphony add to this mood of sedation. The main focus of the story is about a late middle aged exhausted composer named Gustav who needs a long vacation, travels to Venice. His time there is spent mostly alone and he reflects upon his life. A family staying at his hotel has a young son who seems to drift through the film phantasmagorically reminding him of his lost youth and now past life. Mixed with the exquisite scenery of Venice only adds to this dreamlike theme. Overall the film is very sad and reflective and will leave some in a comatose state or stupor of beauty. Here is a link to the trailer, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4N8B1ggYc4