Visconti's interpretation of Mann's Death in Venice "The Death in Venice" by Thomas Mann is a very complex novella. To put it on the screen, a director must choose the most important (or easiest to portray) elements from the story's mythological, psychological, and philosophical lines. The plot would remain largely intact. I'm very interested in Aschenbach's history of homosexuality, so I would be concerned with the strange-looking men, Aschenbach's dreams, and the parallel between his denial of the disease in Venice and his own denials of Tadzio. Throughout the novel, Ashenbach notices strange-looking men. The same language is used to describe the characteristics they share. The first is the catalyst for his adventure. The traveler is clean-shaven, with a snub nose, a red head, with furrows between the eyebrows and bared teeth (p 4 Norton Critical). Followed by a hunchbacked and scruffy sailor and the theatrical ticket collector with a goatee (13). Then the old dandy dressed in yellow. He has a muscular neck, false teeth, a floppy hat, and a habit of running "the tip of his tongue around the corners of his mouth in an obscenely suggestive manner" (14). Aschenbach arrives in Venice only to be confronted with another problem on his gaydar, the gondolier. He has a brutal appearance, with a yellow headband, an untangled straw hat, blond hair, a snub nose, bared teeth and wrinkles between his eyebrows. He tells Aschenbach “You will pay” (18). The last weirdo, the guitarist, comes much later. He is emaciated, with a worn hat, red hair, thin neck, beardless, pale, snub-nosed, with wrinkles between his eyebrows and a habit of "letting his tongue play lewdly at the corner of his mouth." It also smells like disinfectant (50). The guitarist, like most others, focuses on his admirer and Aschenbach doesn't seem so pathetic. The object of his affection is consenting and we lose some of the tension of the novel. Most mythological, psychological and philosophical references have been removed. Visconti makes Aschenbach a composer, not a writer, with a strong connection to his (dead?) family. His character is not fully rendered as in the novel but it is enough. Tadzio is probably the best part of the film. The casting was perfect and you can see how a grown man could fall in love with her. There are some strange men, particularly the guitarist, but the repetition is not emphasised. The film shows Venice's descent into the epidemic well, with bonfires in the streets and the disinfection of the streets. Overall the film is almost watchable for an art film, but it doesn't do justice to the very complex novella.