Obsession

1943 2h 20m IT

🙌

7.5

BANGER

★7.5TMDB · 277

CrimeDramaRomance

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

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

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Cast

Clara Calamai
Giovanna Bragana
Massimo Girotti
Gino Costa
Dhia Cristiani
Anita
Elio Marcuzzo
The Spaniard
Vittorio Duse
Police Officer
Michele Riccardini
Don Remigio
Juan de Landa
Giuseppe Bragana
Michele Sakara
Il Bambino (uncredited)

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Luchino Visconti
Writers: Luchino Visconti, Alberto Moravia, Giuseppe De Santis
Languages: Italian
Countries: Italy

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 5

ERA

Did you know

83 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 5

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Luchino Visconti, shot by Domenico Scala. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 5

ERA

Did you know

Editor Mario Serandrei shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 5

CAST

Did you know

Clara Calamai and Massimo Girotti and Dhia Cristiani carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 5

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0035160 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Luchino Visconti directs. Domenico Scala behind the camera. Mario Serandrei cuts. Produced in Italy. Dialogue in Italian.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

183 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
2Directed by Luchino Visconti, shot by Domenico Scala. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
3Editor Mario Serandrei shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
4Clara Calamai and Massimo Girotti and Dhia Cristiani carry the top of the cast.
5IMDB entry: tt0035160 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
6Classified under 16 themes, including "adultery", "based on novel or book", "italian", "gas station".

The technical file

Cinematography: Domenico Scala
Editing: Mario Serandrei
Costume design: Maria De Matteis
Runtime: 140 min · 2h 20m
Status: Released
Original language: IT
IMDB: Obsession (1943)

Also by

Luchino Visconti

Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2025-01-19
★ 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.

Production companies