Has its pluses and minuses. It does make striking use of color, the acting is not that bad and it eventually builds to a compelling, operatic tale. But it does take some time to get going. The first part is dreadfully confusing. And the film is often quite hysterical, and occasionally absurd. While I had some admiration for what Visconti was doing and how he was going about it, I didn't much want to be watching it. I kept vacillating between confused, impressed, bored, intrigued, and annoyed.

Revulsion is the most immediate response; at the content, presentation, and form exhibited. There's a deliberate analysis to be drawn from this but it doesn't excuse the over-acting and fact that I usually enjoy watching films about miserable people.

493

#527

My problem with this movie is about the last 30 minutes. During those final moments, the dialogues, situations and performances are quite exaggerated. Actually, the entire movie is built upon an extra dosing of drama, but I think it wasn't misplaced, up until the ending. And, of course, the colors, the cinematography is delightful, following Visconti's trademark of The Leopard, Senso, etc.

# 553

A visually rich film that uses an upper class German family as a microcosm of Germany in the 1930's. Berger's performance stands out but all of the actors do a good job of portraying their characters and making the viewer thoroughly disgusted with their personalities. It's a little slow and overindulgent at times, but Visconti's striking camerawork and set design make up for that in spades.

Something about this film just drew me in. It's not as depraved as its reputation, though its characters are certainly debased and perform reviling actions; it's just that they're so full of hate and despise each other so strongly that the drama and energy onscreen is hypnotic. Visconti's visuals are understated but serve to greatly enhance the story in an equally indescribable way, using an active camera (seems every shot is a zoom) to emphasize faces and expressions. Unforgettable.

Bizarre and unsettling, but not nearly as much as I was led to believe. The strong performance from the lead character is stunning and surely engaging; the subject matter is fluid and very interesting as well, and needless to say, Visconti's direction is top tier. The Damned may not be the best work he's done but it's surely worthy of its challenging subject matter and should be seen by anyone who considers themselves an advocate of film as an art form.

A wonderfully vivid portrait of human evil, made in a dizzying visual style. Definitely not a film you will soon forget

One of the most unpleasant movies I've ever seen.

524

Veers between boring and just garishly bad. I find it unbelievable that Visconti, a man with so many masterpieces under his belt, is responsible for this calamity.