An awkward cross between neorealism and noir

Luchino Visconti’s Ossessione is widely regarded as the first film to have come out of the Italian neorealism movement, very much so ticking off all the boxes of what you’d expect to see from a film of this era from unprofessional actors, on location shooting and the depiction of the struggles of the working class in contemporary Italy.

In that regard, its a very important and influential film in the development of this movement, however, because the film is adapted from the American crime novel, The Postman Always Rings Twice, this felt like an awkward cross between Italian neorealism and film noir. Although it still does work and is engaging enough, I think this story and all the twists and turns it takes are better suited for an American production and setting, which would end up happening three years later in the US in 1946. When I think of films like Bicycle Thieves or Umberto D, I couldn’t possibly picture reimagining those stories into an urban American setting like the Bronx or Manhattan. Ossessione, however, I can.

Editing and sound-wise, the film is also quite poorly put together at times. Maybe this might have to do with the fact that the authorities of Fascist Italy destroyed the original negative, and the only reason we have this film today is because Visconti had a duplicate negative of the film in his possession, this same duplicate that would eventually circulate around. Maybe it wasn’t properly kept in the best condition, I couldn’t rightly say, but the film is very shrill sounding, something you’re more likely to hear in a film released during the pre-code era of the early 1930s.

If Ossessione wasn’t (A) the debut film of Luchino Visconti and (B) the first neorealist film, it wouldn’t be as remembered or relevant as it is today. It very much has that, “3pm Sunday afternoon unknown B&W Italian drama matinee that you watch at your cumare’s house”, feel to it. Historically however, its still an important film.