Ossessione,
written and directed by Luchino Visconti, inspired by the work of James M. Cain
9.2 out of
10
Ossessione is
included on The New York Times’ Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made list, accessible here:
The motion
picture reminds one of the Postman Always Rings Twice, the older, much better –
excellent in fact – version, for the newer one, although it has the phenomenal
Jack Nicholson and Jessica Lange leading the cast, pales when compared to
Ossessione and the Lana Turner production.
Gino is the
Italian equivalent of Frank Chambers, from the said Postman, and he stops at
this small restaurant, where he has no money to pay for his bill and the owner
follows him on the road.
Giuseppe Bragana
mentions the fact that he has a truck with problems and the client might look
at it, perhaps work for the money he owes and this is interesting for the man
who had seen the wife.
Gino Costa
had been attracted by Giovanna Bragana, who has also shown interest, in part because
of being married to a much older man, an aspect she would complain about.
After the drifter
starts working at the restaurant, fixing in the first place the trouble the
truck had had, he gets closer to the wife, who is under the spell of the much
younger, strong, determined man.
He would be
suspicious of her motives later, but for the first chapter of their intimacy,
the excitement, and enthusiasm have reached maximum levels, an affair is
initiated, and looks like it may end.
Gino is asphyxiated,
overwhelmed, burdened by the atmosphere, the presence of the cuckold husband
and he wants to change the circumstances, for he cannot accept the situation
any longer.
Therefore,
he insists that they must run away and set out for a new life somewhere else,
where their love can flourish, instead of being stifled, strangled and killed
by the unfortunate ménage a trois.
They even
set about accomplishing this plan, concocted by the man, but as they walk on
the road, Giovanna has second thoughts and then she is determined she does not
want to leave her home.
It is probably
a fear of the unknown, the trauma of abandoning a rather comfortable standard
of living – she had married her spouse for the money – to face the prospect of
hunger and little, maybe no money.
Therefore, she
backtracks and states that she cannot travel into the unknown, she wants to
return, making her lover doubt later on her honesty and the true reasons for
their bondage.
Gino would
later assume that he would have been used, for this incident will present itself
in a different light, as proof that the woman has no real feelings and she only
wanted to achieve a nefarious goal.
I would recommend
that he reads Thomas Mann – of course, jocularly, for there is no means to do
that – in particular, the short story where a character explains that love only
exists in literature and art, for in real life, although we keep saying ‘we
have no words to express our intense, galactic love’, what we feel always
proves temporary, shallow and limited.
If a reader
has reached so far, – which is rather unlikely – he or she may wish to stop,
for some details may be revealed about what happens down the road, after the first
part of the film.
So far, we
have only reached perhaps one third of Ossessione.
Gino decides
to move away, without his Ossessione – we can guess that this is one way to
read the title – and they would meet by accident, later, when Bragana and his
spouse would travel to a nearby city.
Giuseppe Bragana
is scolding his former temporary employee, criticizing his abandonment of a job
that offered security, food on the table and shelter, for such a preposterous
occupation.
Gino Costa is
a walking advertisement, seeing as he has a publicity structure hanging on his
back, but he talks with the couple, then the husband gets drunk, sings an aria
from an opera on a stage.
The dormant
flame that was consuming Gino and Giovanna is now bursting with energy, wild
with an incendiary temperature and the two reconnected lovers are ready to
commit dramatic acts.
They seem
to have lost a sense of danger, thinking they have found the secret of their happiness,
plotting to remove any hindrance, obstacle that could make their passion die.
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