Cinema
Obsession
Ossessione
Luchino Visconti · 1943
Synopsis
The Po plain, in the early 1940s. Gino, a vagabond out of work, stops at an inn that doubles as a petrol station, by the roadside. The owner, Giuseppe Bragana, a man older than his wife, welcomes him warmly and offers him work. Giovanna, the young wife, is immediately drawn to the stranger, and Gino soon takes the husband's place with her.
Context
The first feature film by its director, it adapts without saying so an American novel by James M. Cain, “Le facteur sonne toujours deux fois”, whose rights had not been acquired. The screenplay is by Visconti with Mario Alicata, Giuseppe De Santis and Gianni Puccini, among others. Shot in 1942, on location along the Po and around Ferrara, it was banned by the Fascist regime. Its editor, Mario Serandrei, then wrote to the director that he could see no other name than neorealism for this kind of cinema. It was not released in the United States until 1976, because of a rights issue.
Who it is for
More than two hours in black and white, in a poor, rural Italy that the cinema of the regime did not show.
Prizes and reception
Regarded as one of the precursor films of Italian neorealism, it was restored and re-released in France in 2018.
Sources for this page 5
The pages consulted to check this page.