Essay on Viscontis Interpretation of Manns Death in Venice

Viscontis Interpretation Manns of Death in VeniceThomas Manns Death in Venice is a very complex refreshfulla. To put it on screen, a director has to fault the most important (or easiest to portray) elements from the mythological, psychological and philosophical lines of the story. The plot would remain largely intact. I am most interested in the story of Aschenbachs homosexuality, so I would be concerned with the strange-looking men, Aschenbachs dreams, and the parallel between the denial of the infirmity in Venice and his own denials about Tadzio. Throughout the novel, Ashenbach notices strange-looking men. The same language is utilize to describe the features they share. The first is the catalyst for his adventure. The traveler is clean-shaven, snub-nosed, a redhead, with furrows between his eyebrows and his dentition bareheaded (p 4 Norton Critical). Next are a hunchbacked, scruffy waterman and the theatrical goateed ticket-taker (13). Then, the old fop in the yellow suit. He has a sinewy neck, dentures, a floppy hat, and a habit of rails the tip of his tongue around the corners of his mouth in an obscenely declarative manner, (14). Aschenbach arrives in Venice only to be confronted with another blip on his gaydar, the gondolier. He is brutal-looking, with a yellow sash, unraveling straw hat, blonde hair, a snub nose, bared teeth and furrows between his eyebrows. He tells Aschenbach You will pay, (18). The last strange fellow, the guitarist, comes often later on. He is emaciated, with a shabby hat, red hair, scrawny neck, beardless, pale, a snub nose, with furrows between his eyebrows and a habit of letting his tongue dissipation lasciviously at the corner of his mouth. He also smells of disinfectant (50). The guitarist, bid most l... ...es linger on his admirer, and Aschenbach does not seem as pathetic. The aim of his affection is willing, and we lose some of the tension from the novel. Most of the mythological, psychological and philosophica l references have been removed. Visconti makes Aschenbach a composer, not a writer, with a strong blood to his (dead?) family. His character is not as fully rendered as in the novel save it is sufficient. Tadzio is probably the best part of the movie. The casting was spot-on and one feces see how a grown man could fall in adore with that. Some of the strange men are there, most notably the guitarist, but the repetition is not emphasized. The film shows Venices descent into epidemic well, with the street bonfires and disinfecting of the streets. boilers suit the movie is almost watchable for an art film, but it does not do jurist to the very complex novella.