Ossessione

Gino (Massimo Girotti, Senso), a drifter, arrives at a dusty trattoria in the Po Valley where he meets unhappily married Giovanna (Clara Calamai, Deep Red). Their first encounter ignites illicit passion and the pair plan to escape together with a plot to murder her husband. Adapted from James M. Cain’s The Postman Always Rings Twice, Luchino Visconti’s remarkable debut is a sweaty, sensual and morally ambiguous portrait of lust and desperation. Suppressed by Fascist censors, Ossessione launched a new era in Italian cinema and stands as a foundational work of neorealism.