Cheap Ossessione (Sub) (DVD) (Luchino Visconti) Price

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Customer Reviews of Ossessione (Sub)

Il Postino always rings Twice
It is difficult to review this movie without comparing it to "The Postman Always Rings Twice" (TPART). That's because both are based on the same novel by James Cain. I had heard of "TPART" for years before I finally saw it for the first time earlier this year. My impression was that it was a good movie but, having waited anxiously for so long to see it, it was something of a let down. Last night I was tired and looked forward to watching a good movie. I chose "Ossessione" but almost changed my mind when I saw it was based on "TPART". After all, I'd recently seen that and didn't think it such a great story to see again so soon. Fortunately, I gave the movie a try and was quickly absorbed into it. <
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>What seperates "Obsessione" from "TPART" is the quality of the acting and the excellence of the directing. There is a feeling to this movie that is lacking in the John Garfield/Lana Turner version. We seem to know what everyone is thinking and feeling without depending on obvious dialogue. There is a series of scenes, for example, involving a character by the name of Spangnolo who becomes involved with Gino, the male lead. There are any number of ways that you can interpret him and his relationship with Gino. From fellow vagabonds to a political theorist and his understudy to homosexual lovers. Visconti gives us so many subtle hints that it's up to the viewer to decide for themselves (disappointedly, I assumed the latter relationship). The way everyone interacts with one another is so impressively done and the passions they emote really reach out and touch us. The fact that it is in Italian doesn't hurt its' passionate nature. I have a theory about foreign language movies; they require your constant attention since you don't want to risk missing a critical subtitle. As a result, we come away more focussed on every aspect of the movie and this tends to make good movies even better. <
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>I don't want to disparage "TPART" since it is a good movie. However, "Ossessione" stands so much taller in so many ways that I'm not sure I'll ever feel the need to watch "TPART" again. Take that as praise for "Ossessione" rather than a knock on "TPART".

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WOW!!!!
This film is a classic on so many levels and for so many reasons, I can't even encapsulate them all. Lurid, innocent, sexy, sensuous, humorous, earthy, sad, --- it runs the whole gamut of emotion, and is absolutely transfixing. Just see it; you'll understand completely. As must-own as it gets. <
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>PS: You''ll appreciate it even more if you see the original Postman Always Rings Twice, which was based on this, first.

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Traumatic but absorbing ride
Unhappy people in unhappy circumstances. Gino is a drifter. Not because he has no talent. He is a lost soul looking for an undefined future and is determined to not be tied to anything until he finds his personal nirvana. Giovanna wants the security of being settled, but is unhappy with the man who made it possible. She too, is a lost soul in search of an undefined future. With only passion as a common denominator, they cast their lots with each other and start in motion a chain of events that brings none of the joys anticipated.

Don't expect this movie to be a study of life in WWII Italy. Though made during the war, it is never an issue. Indeed, with the prevalence of young men throughout the movie, it is more likely an image of pre-war Italy. And although some reviewers speak of subtle references to homosexuality, such is unnecessary in describing the Spaniard. Identical scenes in American Westerns are understood to be simply friendship and the necessities of circumstance, i.e., one bed and two people in need of sleep.

Every nuance of the movie hinges upon the passion of Gino and Giovanna, complicated by his desire to be going somewhere, anywhere, and her desire to remain settled. It's a traumatic but absorbing ride, even with the distraction of reading sub-titles.