THE DAMNED

[Hibi]

Glad TCM finally aired it, but disappointed it was not in widescreen! (I recorded it and was checking it this morning). Anyone else tune into Dirk Bogarde night? What a line up! I also recorded Death in Venice and The Night Porter (both of which I've seen before). Death in Venice was on early enough to watch, but I wasn't up to watching it last night. Passed on Darling as I've seen that quite a few times and the last not too long ago.

[cmovieviewer]

I haven't watched the movie yet, but my recording of The Damned from last night/early this morning appears to be widescreen. Also checked WatchTCM and it is widescreen there as well, so not sure what happened with your recording.

[Hibi]

That's strange. Mine was not!

[Andree]

I saw The Damned on YT a few years ago. Not bad, if you're interested in two and half hours of
Nazi porn and fake Gotterdammerung.

I can never figure out if Aschenbach sees Tadzio as a symbolic figure of pure beauty or if he's just a repressed
middle-age Teutonic type who wants to pop his cork when he spies the handsome young man. And Tadzio seems
to just be teasing Aschenbach for the whole movie. You do feel sorry for the old boy for staying in Venice
due to his attraction for Tadzio and dying. OTOH, that was a pretty dumb move, but love can cause one to
make bad decisions. The cinematography is very sumptuous and appealing, the story less so.

[Allhallowsday]

I watched DEATH IN VENICE (again) I skipped DARLING (and later realized it includes LAURENCE HARVEY, lucky me) and saw THE NIGHT PORTER for the first (and last) time. DIRK BOGARDE went a long way with his performances, no doubt.

[Andree]

That's the point, isn't it? Anyone might admire an attractive man or woman as representing natural beauty, but when it's a middle-aged man admiring a teenaged boy, that begins to seem like what Jeff Goldblum in THE BIG CHILL calls a "big juicy rationalization."

It does seem that he takes more than an aesthetic interest in Tadzio. I do feel sorry that, because of his
obsession, he has to follow the mother and daughters around. That couldn't have been much fun.

[Allhallowsday]

That's the point, isn't it? Anyone might admire an attractive man or woman as representing natural beauty, but when it's a middle-aged man admiring a teenaged boy, that begins to seem like what Jeff Goldblum in THE BIG CHILL calls a "big juicy rationalization."

It does seem that he takes more than an aesthetic interest in Tadzio. I do feel sorry that, because of his
obsession, he has to follow the mother and daughters around. That couldn't have been much fun.

.
Aschenbach does emphatically exclaim alone in the dark "I love you!"

[Andree]

No doubt he does in some form or other. I'm pretty sure that love will be unrequited.

Night Porter. Pretty bizarre. It would be possible for a woman to have some kind of sexual
relationship with a Nazi in a camp, and then accidently meet him years later and want to continue
it. Possible, but not very likely. And what a comedown from having so much power over people
to end up as a night porter with very little power. And as strange as the two main characters are,
I felt some sympathy for them, especially in comparison with the other Nazis in his group.

[Hibi]

My viewing of The Damned was widescreen as well.

Ever since I've changed cable companies, I've noticed some films on TCM aren't shown in the widescreen format. Don't get what's going on. Some are, but some aren't. I've complained about this, but can't get an answer why.

[HoldenIsHere]

I started watching THE DAMNED on Watch TCM last night. I have about an hour left and will hopefully finish it tonight or tomorrow tonight.
The movie is in widescreen on Watch TCM.

I expected the movie to be in German (a few of the actors are German), but it makes sense that it would be in Italian since it's an Italian production.
I wonder if the dialogue is Italian with a German accent --- the way that American movies set in another country will often have the actors speaking English with a accent of the country where the movie is set.
I don't know Italian or German so I have no idea.
The sweetie used to know German, but it's very rusty.

I presume that the character of Herbert is the brother of the deceased wife of the Konstantin character (the father of Gunther -- who played the cello).

I loved how the Martin character was mad that his drag performance at the grandfather's birthday celebration was interrupted by the news of the Reichstag fire.
The drag performance was in German but wasn't subtitled.

[Allhallowsday]

No doubt he does in some form or other. I'm pretty sure that love will be unrequited.

Night Porter. Pretty bizarre. It would be possible for a woman to have some kind of sexual
relationship with a Nazi in a camp, and then accidently meet him years later and want to continue
it. Possible, but not very likely. And what a comedown from having so much power over people
to end up as a night porter with very little power. And as strange as the two main characters are,
I felt some sympathy for them, especially in comparison with the other Nazis in his group.

I don't think I'll look at it again, but the performances were powerful, as perplexing and disturbing as it all is.

[Andree]

I don't think I'll look at it again, but the performances were powerful, as perplexing and disturbing as it all is.

The two lead actors were certainly intense. I think that after one gets through the initial shock of the premise
of the movie, it's easier to take on subsequent viewings, though maybe not one of those movies you want to see
every year or two.

I was a bit flippant about The Damned. It certainly has visual appeal and a fairly interesting story, but after
seeing it a few times, it loses some of its luster. A critic said that Visconti's later films like The Damned and
Death in Venice resemble operas without the music.