Ossessione

This film is clearly all about trust. The trust of a husband for his wife, the trust between friends, the trust between two lovers. Apparently, the film is based on The Postman Always Rings Twice, but since I've never read the novel or seen the films, I can't compare it adequately enough. I thought it was more like Double Indemnity -- the wife uses her lover to kill her husband -- but that's only the surface of the film. It's filmed in beautiful black and white detail, which highlights every nuance and gesture better than any color film could do. Clara Calamai is the lustrous Giovanna, the wife. The camera simply loves her every expression. Luchino Visconti is a famous war-time Italian director, and this is the first film he ever directed. Quite the debut! For those of you who love black and white, aren't disturbed by sub-titles and adore sensually filmed, emotion- filled films, this is one for you.

year: 1943
length: 142 min.
rating: 3.5
IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0035160/combined