Choice: Film

David Benedict
Monday 09 March 1998 00:02 GMT
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Death in Venice, mac, Birmingham (0121-440 3838) 3pm

While no movie is ever as good on TV, some just about survive the scanning process and being squashed onto the small screen. Visconti's adaptation of Thomas Mann's novella is not one of them. You should see its Tintoretto-like textures on the big screen or not at all. Mind you, if you go to the movies for action, then I suggest "not at all", but even die-hard Die Hard fans would have to admit that the film is extraordinarily beautiful. Dirk Bogarde (above) had effectively jettisoned his faded British screen presence with his alarmingly jaded lead in Visconti's The Damned two years earlier, but that had nothing like the impact of this performance, which carries the entire film. Visconti turns the character into a Mahler-like composer and the result is one of the most famous classical soundtracks ever made. Indeed, the Adagietto from Mahler's Fifth Symphony has never quite recovered from this over- exposure.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in