The 1954 period melodrama Senso, directed by Luchino Visconti, represented one of the more spectacular and visually impressive works of mid-20th century Italian cinema, yet it was bound by serious limitations. Its literary source—Camillo Boito's novella—could not be adapted for screen more faithfully due to the strict censorship standards of 1950s Italy, which prohibited explicit depictions of sexual frustration and decadence. Roughly half a century later, Tinto Brass, working without such constraints, decided to remake Senso with unflinching explicitness. The result was the 2002 erotic drama Senso '45, also known in English-language distribution as Black Angel. Unlike Visconti's relatively restrained approach, Brass's adaptation delivers precisely what the original could not—a raw, unfiltered exploration of erotic obsession against the backdrop of political collapse, making it a fascinating case study in how historical context shapes cinematic interpretation.
Where Visconti's work faithfully set the plot during the Third Italian War of Independence in 1866, Brass transposes the narrative nearly a century forward to the final, desperate months of World War II. Set in spring 1945—less than two years after Mussolini's fall and the Allied landings—Italy is a fractured nation. Northern regions, including Venice where most of the plot unfolds, remain under Nazi German occupation, governed by the remnants of Fascism through the puppet regime of the Italian Social Republic (RSI). The protagonist and narrator, Livia Mazzano (played by Anna Galienna), is the wife of Carlo Mazzoni (Carlo Salines), a high-ranking official within the RSI Ministry of Popular Culture (Minculpop). Unlike his politically compromised husband—who has already established contacts with the Resistance and prepared substantial cash reserves for any postwar scenario—Livia remains emotionally detached from the political turmoil engulfing her nation.
This detachment proves crucial when, during a theatre performance, Livia witnesses its dramatic interruption by armed anti-Fascist militants. More significantly, she observes how Lieutenant Helmut Schultz (Gabriel Garko), a young and striking SS officer, effortlessly dismisses the incident with cool authority. Livia, whose marriage to the decades-older Carlo lacks passion or genuine affection, becomes immediately infatuated. Helmut, recognising her vulnerability, initiates a torrid affair that quickly escalates into a world of decadent pleasures. As political violence intensifies between Fascists and the Resistance, Helmut—whose own lifestyle involves reckless gambling—grows increasingly desperate to escape. He pleads with Livia for money to bribe his way out of the SS and fund his flight from Italy. Livia obliges, only to later discover Helmut has been simultaneously involved with Ninetta (Loredanna Cannata), a much younger woman. Feeling betrayed on multiple levels, Livia enacts her own brutal retaliation through betrayal of her own.
Tinto Brass had already established himself as one of Italy's most prominent erotic filmmakers by the 1970s, exploiting the decade's permissive atmosphere with controversial works like Salon Kitty and Caligula, the latter branded by many as pornographic. Throughout his career, Brass continued making films in a similar vein, and Senso '45 unsurprisingly embraces explicit erotica with abandon—particularly when compared to the prudish constraints of contemporary Hollywood. In this film, Brass seizes every opportunity to present female nudity in its most complete form, with women baring not merely breasts but their most intimate anatomy. One particularly striking sequence features Livia and Helmut visiting a Jewish antiquarian (Agostino Nani Mocenigo) who displays explicitly pornographic images. This precedes an extended brothel orgy scene that appears to feature unsimulated fellatios—a bold choice even by early 21st-century European arthouse standards. Brass clearly exploits the trend established by films like Patrice Chéreau's Intimacy (2001), where such explicit content was increasingly framed as justifiable artistic expression rather than mere exploitation.
Yet despite its graphic content, Senso '45 never feels gratuitously exploitative—a testament to Brass's considerable directorial skill and refined sense of visual style. Many shots are perfectly composed, demonstrating an artist who understands how to frame the human body within historical context. More importantly, Brass provides intellectual justification for the explicit sexuality through a hypothesis popular among European filmmakers of the 1970s: the connection between sexual perversion and fascism. Just as Livia is seduced into a world of unconventional sex by having her base animalistic instincts fulfilled, entire nations were drawn to fascism through similar appeals to primal instincts. Gabriel Garko, with his perfect Aryan features and cool black SS uniform, embodies this dangerous allure, making Livia's surrender to his raw machistic power tragically inevitable.
If Senso '45 possesses flaws, they lie primarily in its occasionally glacial pacing and Brass's occasional indulgence in overly elaborate stylistic experiments. The narrative unfolds through colour flashbacks framed by black-and-white sequences depicting Livia being driven back to Venice by her attorney Ugo Occiano (Franco Branciaroli) for her fateful encounter with Helmut. While cinematographers Massimo Di Venanzo and Daniele Nannuzzi deliver "sensational" visual work through this technique, it sometimes disrupts narrative flow and creates unnecessary distance between viewer and protagonist.
The acting throughout is superb, with Anna Galienna delivering a performance that stands as a worthy counterpart to Alida Valli's portrayal in Visconti's 1954 version. Galienna's expressive eyes, voice, and gestures consistently outshine Gabriel Garko, who proves somewhat unconvincing as a member of the feared SS. Her performance manages to transcend the frequent nude scenes, ensuring the audience remains engaged with Livia as a complex character rather than merely an erotic object—a significant achievement given the film's explicit nature.
An aspect likely lost on general audiences but fascinating for film historians is Brass's homage to 20th-century Italian cinema. This includes obscure references to Fascist-era studio Scalera Film, which relocated from Rome to RSI-controlled Venice during WWII and established "Cinevillagio" as the northern counterpart to Rome's Cinecittà. These historical details surface in scenes where Carlo Mazzoni observes films being produced, adding subtle layers of meta-cinematic commentary.
More immediately recognisable is Brass's nod to Roberto Rossellini's 1945 classic Rome, Open City. In a scene mirroring Rossellini's famous sequence, Fascists machine-gun a woman during a Venice street raid. However, Brass adds his distinctive twist—the falling woman's legs splay open, granting the camera explicit access to her genitals. While some may view this as questionable or in poor taste, it exemplifies Brass's unapologetic approach to merging political history with erotic spectacle.
The film's soundtrack, composed by the legendary Ennio Morricone, represents perhaps its most significant disappointment. While Morricone's collaborations with directors like Sergio Leone, Bernardo Bertolucci, and Pier Paolo Pasolini produced some of cinema's most memorable scores, his work for Senso '45 falls far short of his great works. Unlike his iconic spaghetti western themes or the haunting melodies of Cinema Paradiso, Morricone's contribution here lacks distinctive character and fails to elevate the film. Given Morricone's hyper-productive career—composing for over 400 film and television productions—the soundtrack feels disappointingly generic, actually making the film seem cheaper than it actually is.
Senso '45 ultimately succeeds as a provocative historical revision that confronts what Visconti's 1954 version could only imply. By transporting Boito's narrative to the final days of Italian Fascism and embracing explicit sexuality without apology, Brass creates a film that functions simultaneously as erotic spectacle, political commentary, and cinematic homage. While its pacing occasionally falters and Morricone's score disappoints, the film's intellectual framework—linking sexual decadence with political collapse—prevents it from descending into mere exploitation. Anna Galienna's compelling performance anchors the narrative, ensuring Livia remains a tragic figure rather than merely an erotic object.
Unlike Visconti's adaptation, which romanticized Livia's affair, Brass presents it as a clinical study of vanity and lust—a more faithful interpretation of Boito's original novella's cynical worldview. In doing so, Senso '45 transcends its erotic trappings to offer a disturbing reflection on how personal and political betrayals intertwine during historical collapse. The film's greatest achievement lies in making us understand why Livia would risk everything for a destructive relationship—because in times of societal breakdown, base instincts often override rational calculation, whether in bedrooms or ballot boxes. For all its explicit content, Senso '45 remains a profoundly political film, reminding us that fascism doesn't emerge from abstract ideology alone, but from the same human vulnerabilities that drive our most intimate desires.
RATING: 6/10 (++)
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