Obsession

Obsession

Obssessione

Gino Costa, an itinerant laborer, arrives at a roadside café-cum-petrol station. The owner, Giuseppe Bragana, offers him temporary work, which he accepts – because he is attracted to his employer’s wife, Giovanna. Repulsed by her much older husband, Giovanna is ready to take Gino as her lover. When Giovanna’s passion for him grows too intense, Gino decides to move on. He tags along with a Spanish tramp and ends up looking for work in the nearby town of Ferrara. Here, he meets up with Giovanna and her husband once again. They persuade him to return to their home. On the way back, Gino and Giovanna kill Giuseppe, making it appear that he died in a road accident. With Giuseppe out of the way, the young couple is free to start a new life together. Unfortunately, Gino becomes increasingly troubled by his conscience, and his love for Giovanna soon fades...

About director:

During his youth Luchino Visconti Di Modrone (1906 – 1976) mixed with luminaries such as conductor Toscanini, composer Puccini and the novelist Gabriele D'Annunzio. Not surprisingly, he had an early interest in music and theatre. When this interest began to fade, he moved to Paris and befriended Coco Chanel. She introduced him to Jean Renoir with whom he worked briefly as assistant on "Partie de campagne" (1936), which turned his attention towards cinema. To fund his first film he sold some family jewels. "Ossessione" (1942), an unauthorized adaptation of James M. Cain's "The Postman Always Rings Twice", had difficulties with the Fascist censors, but the result was an enormous success in Italy.

Selected filmography: “Obsession” (1943), “White Nights”(1956), “The Leopard” (1963), “Sandra” (1965), “The Stranger” (1967), “The Damned” (1969), “Death In Venice” (1971), “Ludwig: The Mad King of Bavaria” (1972), “The Innocent” (1976).