janqb Review of Death in Venice

Death in Venice (1971)

"Death in Venice" has none of the exploitativeness of books/films like "Lolita"

[8/10 · 7 September 2003]

Graceful, welll-paced, fine use of zooming, close-up shots. The music that occupies what otherwise would be silence during the film is finely chosen. I read the book first and felt disinterested in it. I watched this film and acquired a new respect for the book. Björn Andrésen is reminiscent of the Grecian ideal of boyish beauty. Though the subject matter--an older man in love (lust?) with an adolescent boy--is somewhat unsettling, "Death in Venice" has none of the exploitation of books/films like "Lolita", where a child becomes the pawn of an older, more powerful adult man. Gustave can only admire and long from afar. And unlike Lolita, Tadzio is an admired and unattainable ideal. Unfortunately for girls, they have yet to be idealized and respected in film.