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Obsession

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7.5/10 • 251

1944-04-082h 20m

CrimeDramaRomance

Gino, a drifter, begins an affair with inn-owner Giovanna as they plan to get rid of her older husband.

Directors
Luchino Visconti
Editors
Mario Serandrei

Top Billed Cast

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  1. Clara Calamai

    Clara Calamai

    Giovanna Bragana

  2. Massimo Girotti

    Massimo Girotti

    Gino Costa

  3. Dhia Cristiani

    Dhia Cristiani

    Anita

  4. Elio Marcuzzo

    Elio Marcuzzo

    The Spaniard

  5. Vittorio Duse

    Vittorio Duse

    Police Officer

  6. Michele Riccardini

    Michele Riccardini

    Don Remigio

  7. Juan de Landa

    Juan de Landa

    Giuseppe Bragana

  8. Michele Sakara

    Michele Sakara

    Il Bambino (uncredited)

Reviews1

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CinemaSerf Avatar

CinemaSerf

Jan 19, 2025

7/10

So much of this adaptation of James Cain's "Postman Always Rings Twice" novel depends on it's stunningly intimate, almost adulatory, photography and on that score this really does not disappoint. "Giovanna" (Clara Calamai) is trapped in a loveless marriage with the older, drunken and thuggish "Giuseppe" (Juan de Landa) when the drifter "Gino" (Massimo Girotti) happens by. He's a jack of all trades and they can use him to help around the place in return for his bed and board. Quite quickly, though, she makes it clear she'd prefer it were her bed, and the pair are soon scheming an end to her loathsome predicament. It turns out that that's not so difficult to achieve, but what of events thereafter? The police, the insurance, the struggling business, oh - and the guilt. It's that latter element that gradually gnaws away at their relationship and it's this last hour or so that sees Visconti at his creative best. The highly structured but entirely natural look of the scenarios, the score and the increasingly frenetic dialogue raise the tension appreciably and though there is a tangible chemistry throughout from Calamai and Girotti, it's one that intensifies as an uncertain denouement beckons. You can just imagine the response it would have received in wartime Italy as it questions issues of faith and fidelity, crime and lust - indeed I'm quite surprised all the prints weren't burnt at the stake. Did this postman actually ring twice? I'm not sure he did, but I'm not sure that mattered to me in the end.

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    Status
    Released
    Original Language
    Italian
    Budget
    --
    Revenue
    --
    Keywords
    adulterybased on novel or bookitaliangas stationitalyinnkeepermurdermechanicdrifterolder husbandcrime of passionneo realismscheming wifeadulterous wifeitalian neo realismwife murders husband