Adapted from the Thomas Mann novella, this haunting drama follows an ailing German composer (Dirk Bogarde) who travels to Venice hoping to regain his health and creativity. He spots a young boy who embodies his ideal of classic beauty, and becomes dangerously fixated on him as a plague spreads through Venice. This is among Visconti’s most sumptuously mounted period films, featuring music by Gustav Mahler (whose life served as partial inspiration for the screenplay), BAFTA-winning cinematography by Pasqualino De Santis and Oscar-nominated costume design by Piero Tosi. Costarring Marisa Berenson.