Ossessione

Ossessione (1944)

Timing: 2:20 (140 min)

7.5/10
265

7.388/10
2328

7.5/10
9000

• Luchino Visconti's directorial debut – an adaptation of James M. Cain's "noir" novel The Postman Always Rings Twice, set in an Italian context.
• The film was shot towards the end of Mussolini's rule in a semi-secret manner, using funds raised by Luchino Visconti from the sale of family jewels.
• At the demand of fascist censors, the film, deemed to have "slandered the Italian provinces," was re-edited several times, and its negative was burned. For this reason, and also due to difficulties with copyright, the film was practically unavailable for viewing for decades. Only towards the end of Luchino Visconti's life did he restore it based on an incomplete duplicate he had preserved.
• The premiere of "Obsession" is described differently by eyewitnesses. The Duce's son, Vittorio Mussolini, was present and allegedly shouted: "This is not Italy!" Others recall that Mussolini enjoyed the film. Provincial authorities, on the other hand, rejected the film; there is a known case of a bishop being invited to consecrate a cinema "defiled" by the film.
• Luchino Visconti’s debut film—an adaptation of James M. Cain’s noir novel 'The Postman Always Rings Twice' set in Italian realities.
• At the demand of fascist censors, the film, which 'slandered the Italian countryside,' was repeatedly re-edited, and its negative was burned. For this reason, and due to difficulties with copyright, the film was practically unavailable for viewing for decades. Only at the end of Luchino Visconti’s life did he restore it based on an incomplete dupe negative he had preserved.
• The premiere of 'Obsession' is described differently by eyewitnesses. The son of the Duce, Vittorio Mussolini, was present and allegedly shouted, 'This is not Italy!' Others recall that Mussolini liked the film. Provincial authorities, on the contrary, strongly opposed the film; there is a known case of a bishop being invited to consecrate the cinema 'defiled' by the film.