visconti death in venice qualifies a one of the most beautiful film ever make . while watch and we acknowledge we be in the hand of a visionary genius . endlessly opulent death in venice surely be while but in other important way and it an unsatisfying film . thomas mann writes with contempt and from a distance of von aschenbach literary career and output while of his imperious manner and his layer upon layer of programmed and self conscious behavior . when tadzio appear and obsession arises and it evident that aschenbach hasn not the slight idea who he be beneath his gilded age trapping and carefully live life . in fact and upon see tadzio and the solitary and a mann sometimes call him and split in two . aschenbach no . 1 absorbs the sight of a beautiful 14 year old boy and then attempt to intellectually process the giddy jolt in blood pressure a he would a work of art a wouldivine work of art . but aschenbach no . 2 and emerges a a stalker who take control of and then replaces and the rational aschenbach no . 1. like the original aschenbach and his sexual doppelganger be mortify to make human contact with the object of his obsession and thus tadzio remain a far off ideal . thomas mann have no mercy for this game . every shred of self knowledge come too strong and too late while the excitement of sexual flush be too great to resist . that venice be grip by disease mean nothing to aschenbach except that his game now have high stake . when he finally whisper beneath his breath i love you and he know that all be lose and and the abyss awaits . be any of this filmable . perhaps and and visconti create a visual feast impossible to look away from . but there be error represent he and dirk bogarde create aschenbach a sympathetic while mann and again and do not . aschenbach pov dominate the film and we be expect to identify . but nowhere on screen be there a man be torn apart from within . bogarde toggle between the sublimely control and the ridiculously temperamental with ease but what underneath . bogard reactive performance have no mooring . mann write a character who be and in his imagination and do the dance of the seven veil and all too aware of the consequence such freedom invite and yet unable and unwilling to resist . also and visconti screenplay create a character not in the original alfred and a friend of aschenbach to dramatize mann discussion of art and artist . these scene be badly write disaster and and the actor who portray alfred be difficult to watch . also and visconti aschenbach be a gilded age teutonic composer and which i think work for the film while and the symphony of mahler substitute for aschenbach novel . mahler great music unfortunately be badly record and very badly play . so death in venice and a visconti hand it to u and be not the complete success it might have be and but a a purely visual experience it power can not be deny . all student of film and especially cinematography and will want to take a look .