Ossessione

Screenplay by Luchino Visconti, Mario Alicata, Giuseppe De Santis, and Gianni Puccini (from James M. Cain's novel "The Postman Always Rings Twice") - Directed by Luchino Visconti

LOGLINE

The wife of a tavern owner falls in love with a vagabond and they decide to kill her husband.

SYNOPSIS

A. In post-war Northern Italy, a hungry vagabond walks into a tavern, asking for food from the boss's wife. The love-hungry wife is instantly attracted to him. The stranger offers to work for the husband and wins his trust. He pulls a trick, sending the husband away for a delivery, and makes love to the wife.

B. The lovers and the unsuspecting husband, who trusts his new worker, share the same roof, until the lovers can't take it any more. They decide to run away together.

ACT II

C. Giovanna decides to stay with her husband and Gino leaves her. He decides to forget about her and he starts working by the side of a travelling artist.

D. Giovanna and Bragana bump into Gino, again, and invite him for drinks. As the old flame starts to burn up, a dark plan takes form in the lovers' heads. On their way back, drunk Bragana lets Gino drive his truck.

E. Bragana is dead, killed at a road accident. Gino and Giovanna, who have faked the accident, testify to the police and get back to the tavern. Although Giovanna says she now has all she ever wanted, Gino wants to sell everything and leave. As the couple is drifting apart, the police watches them closely.

F. When Giovanna reveals that Bragana has had a life insurance, Gino feels that she has used him all the way and leaves Giovanna to start an affair with a young prostitute.

ACT III

G. New evidence shows the police that Gino and Giovanna have, indeed, murdered Bragana. Gino escapes the prostitute's room and goes back to Giovanna, who announces that she is pregnant.

H. Once back together, Gino and Giovanna escape from the tavern, with the police at their trail. During their escape, though, they fall off the road and Giovanna gets killed. The police comes and arrests Gino.

STEP OUTLINE

ACT I

A. The stranger's encounter with Giovanna

A country road in the Province of Ferrara, Italy. Two truck drivers make one of their regular stops at Bragana's tavern, which also serves as a gas station. They discover a vagabond sleeping on the hay, at the back of their track. While Bragana is busy with the truck drivers, the vagabond staggers into the tavern.

We never see the vagabond's face, until he enters the tavern.

We first notice Giovanna's legs; then, her face. I bet the vagabond did the same thing.

The stranger enters the tavern and goes straight to the kitchen, following the voice of a singing woman. She is Giovanna, Bragana's young wife, who instantly gets attracted to the dirty, yet handsome stranger. She serves him food, which he pays, and she lets him eat it in the kitchen. Bragana comes and kicks the stranger out. Giovanna secretly gets the vagabond's payment from the table and lies to her husband, saying that the man hasn't paid. Bragana goes after the stranger.

For a more detailed analysis of this scene, click here.

Giovanna's double take on the stranger. She is obviously dreaming of other things, trying to keep her beauty alive in a rough and boring place. 

We only see his face when she does.

Protagonist: The stranger, who is looking for something to eat.
Antagonist: Giovanna, who wants him out of the kitchen.
Subtext: their instant sexual attraction and Giovanna's resistance to it.

Needless to say, the relationship between the scene's outer and inner conflicts is superb, because they are both based on primal human needs: food and love.

• Outer conflict: He is hungry for food and wants to eat / She wants him out of the kitchen.
• Inner conflict: She is hungry for love / She wants to resist his seduction.

Bragana stops the stranger and demands his money. The stranger is surprised to hear the woman's lie and suspects the invite that hides behind it, but for the moment he is more concerned with dealing with the husband. He offers himself as a mechanic to Bragana, to pay for his debt, and they walk back to Bragana's garage.

The sexiest moment in the film: Giovanna staring at the stranger as she shuts the window.

As they approach the garage, the stranger sees Giovanna staring at him through the window, leaving him no doubt about what she wants. Bragana orders him to check the truck. The stranger swiftly hides an engine part into his pocket and tells Bragana that his truck has a distributor missing. Bragana orders the stranger to fix the water pump, until the new distributor arrives from the closest town. He starts liking the stranger, especially after he discovers that they have served in the same infantry regiment.

"Has your appetite returned?" Giovanna asks the stranger, while, absentmindedly, caressing her... eggs. The female instinct working like a turbo.

They get back into the tavern and Bragana calls up the repair shop, but finds no one available to deliver the distributor. (Meanwhile, Giovanna and the stranger seal their secret agreement: the stranger has come back to "eat" more, even though he has no money to pay.) Don Remigio, a priest getting ready to go for duck shooting, invites Bragana to walk together to the repair shop. They leave.

The stranger starts working on the water pump. After he sees the last man leave the tavern, he hears Giovanna's song. He lets go of the pump and goes into the tavern, closing the door behind him. He takes an empty plate and walks into the kitchen, where Giovanna is waiting for him.

The priest and Bragana cycle together. The priest tells him about some fisherman who has caught a 5-kilo eel. Bragana is thrilled and wants to find out where this has happened. He decides to go and ask the fisherman and to pick up the distributor on his way back.

Sequence's protagonist: the stranger and Giovanna, who want food and love. Antagonist: Bragana, who owns both the food and his wife.


B. Ménage à trois

Giovanna tells her story: she has prostituted herself to a husband, instead of being poor and homeless.

The stranger listens to her story, while his mind is drifting to the sound of the seashell. Stakes are not high for him. He likes the woman, but he can always roam freely. "It's not the same for you," Giovanna tells the stranger, when he asks her to go on the road with him. A woman, apparently, needs to settle.

In her bedroom, Giovanna and the stranger have finished making love. She wants to know what she means to him and he tells her about his loneliness and his tough life on the road. Then, he asks her about her marriage. She says she married old Bragana because of her poverty, but now she is a worker in his kitchen. He proposes her to run away with him, but she doesn't want to get back to her poverty. She changes her mind, though, when she sees her ageing face in the mirror, and agrees on escaping with the stranger. We hear the stranger's name for the first time: Gino.

Bragana returns and gives the distributor to Gino. Bragana is happy to see that both the water pump and the truck are now working. Gino asks for more work and Bragana agrees to have him around for some more.

Bragana gives Gino his razor, to shave his face. Notice how the razor is framed, against Bragana's body. A first, subtle suggestion of the tragic events that will follow.

No saints in this film. Giovanna is a woman who has chosen the safety of a husband's wallet. Yet, we empathise with her because a. her husband mistreats her all the time and b. she is hungry for love. We want to see her ending happily ever after with Gino. Too bad, this will not happen.

Gino and Bragana go to the kitchen, where the latter demonstrates the "joys of matrimony," having Giovanna rub his back. When Giovanna accuses her husband of only thinking of himself, Bragana announces that has saved some money for the difficult days, something that doesn't go unnoticed by Gino.

Bragana takes his rifle and goes to shoot some cats mating outside. He fails to see the cats mating inside.

During dinner, Bragana insults Giovanna again, in front of Gino. When Bragana goes out to attend to some truck, Gino, again, asks Giovanna to run away with him. [Giovanna seems less reluctant now, agreeing that the three of them can't go on staying together.] Bragana returns with some news: some friend has been killed, shot by one of his workers, because of his wife. [This story foreshadows what will later happen to Bragana.] Giovanna complains to Bragana, asking him to do something about some mating cats, wailing outside. Bragana takes his rifle, goes out, and shoots the cats, while the lovers cling onto each other.

Sequence's protagonist: the stranger, who wants Giovanna to run away with him. Antagonist: Giovanna, who is reluctant about her escape. This sequence is kept together by Giovanna's "refusal of the call to adventure." (See MAJOR BEATS in Glossary page.) She resists Gino's proposal and tries to compromise, living with both men. Eventually, she agrees that this can't go on.


ACT II

C. Gino goes away

Gino prefers being poor, but free, with the woman he likes, than compromising and having an affair behind Bragana's back. His free spirit is what makes us like him.

Next day, Gino and Giovanna walk together, carrying a suitcase. She changes her mind; she wants to go back to the three of them living together. He leaves her and walks away. They part.

Against the rules of the archetypal story's structure, the film's Act II starts with a second "refusal of the call to adventure." It is common in non-Hollywood films to have characters very reluctant to go on with their desires.

Gino takes a seat in a train. He tells the ticket inspector he doesn't have a ticket. The inspector threatens him to kick him out while the train is in motion. Another man intervenes and offers to pay for Gino. He's an artist nicknamed Spagnolo. He asks Gino to stay and work with him. Gino agrees.

They get off at Ancona and look for a room.

They get a room and pay the hostess. As they settle, Gino's suitcase opens and Giovanna's underwear falls out. Gino tells his story and how much he loves Giovanna. Spagnolo advises him to forget about her, get on a ship and leave. They fall asleep.

Later, the artist wakes up to find that Gino has left.

At the harbour, Gino sits on his suitcase. He has missed his boat. He walks back to the city and meets Spagnolo outside the hotel. They walk off together.

In order to forget the love of a woman, Gino accepts the love of a man.

They get on the city's hilltop and admire the view, smoking a cigarette.

Sequence's protagonist: Gino, who wants to leave Giovanna behind. Antagonism: his love for her. The character of Spagnolo functions as both a confidante (an excuse for the audience to hear the thoughts of the protagonist: "I love her.") and a mentor (offering advice to Gino: "Forget about her.") The sequence ends with Gino following Spagnolo and moving on to a new life.


D. Gino meets Giovanna again

Spagnolo's jealous remarks and the looks the two men exchange suggest that he and Gino share more than a job: there has probably been a very subtle love story between them.

Gino assists Spagnolo at his show: he has a caged mouse that is supposed to predict the future by choosing little pieces of paper from a stack. Bragana and Giovanna show up among the audience. They see Gino and make fun of his new job. They invite him for a drink. Gino tells Spagnolo that he is invited. Spagnolo deflates, but lets Gino go.

Vulgar and insensitive Bragana surprises us when he passionately sings an aria from La Traviata. At the same time, Giovanna tells Gino that she plans to stay with her husband. We, too, are tempted to think that life with him is not that bad, after all.

Gino, Bragana, and Giovanna go to a café, where an opera singing contest takes place. Bragana gets on stage, to participate, leaving Giovanna and Gino alone at the table. Gino tells Giovanna that he can't forget her and asks to be with her. She refuses, telling him that she'll stay with her husband and he threatens to come back and live with them, like before.

Meanwhile, Spagnolo is looking for Gino.

Bragana finishes his aria, and receives a warm applause. Some people invite Bragana, Giovanna, and Gino at their table. As they drink, Giovanna eats Gino up with her eyes.

Bragana achieves a double triumph: in singing and in keeping his wife, too. This story beat, of a character's triumph in some kind of obvious contest underlining a victory in the plot is a common dramatic device. For example, it has also been used in Fatal Attraction (another deadly ménage à trois story), at the end of Sequence D, where Dan's triumph in bowling coincides with his (false) victory of getting rid of Alex. It is worthy of attention that both examples place this story beat near the end of Sequence D, at the midpoint's false victory moment.

A young man accompanied to the singing contest by, maybe, his mother, who taps her cane, emphasising his aria. If there is a thematic statement, here, I haven't discovered it yet.

Later, Giovanna and Gino leave the café with a drunk Bragana. Bragana brags about his public relations: even though he has paid the bill, he will get it back when the people visit his tavern.

The two lovers, about to reach the point of no return. Have they already, consciously, decided about killing Bragana?

They get to the station, where Bragana's truck is. Giovanna corners Gino and kisses him. A plan starts forming in their heads.

At night, drunk Bragana is driving the three of them back. Giovanna suggests that Gino takes the wheel. They stop and change, and the truck vanishes in the darkness.

Sequence's protagonist: Gino, who wants Giovanna back. Antagonist: Giovanna, who refuses to leave Bragana. When she realises that she, too, has strong feelings about Gino, she knows that they have to get rid of Bragana, in order to be together.


E. Their plot

The next morning, Gino and Giovanna testify for an accident: their truck is crashed and Bragana lies dead.

After the paperwork is over, Giovanna, absentmindedly, extends her hand to the police inspector, for a shake, as if she has just closed an important deal.

At the police station, Giovanna and Gino sign their testimonies. The policemen let them go, but tell them that they will be in touch, for additional reports.

The tavern is about to open again.

They get to Bragana's tavern. Gino wants Giovanna to sell the tavern and leave, but she says she is very happy to have exactly what she wanted: to be there, alone, with Gino. Someone knocks the door and Giovanna orders Gino to open the tavern, while she goes upstairs.

To deal with his fears and guilt, Gino starts drinking.

Gino opens the tavern door. A thin man with a moustache wants a drink. He asks Gino questions and Gino is very cold with him. After he has had his drink, the man leaves.

Gino goes upstairs and sees Giovanna going through Bragana's personal items, handed over to her by the police. She hides them behind her back. Gino takes off the fake bandage from his arm and asks Giovanna what she's doing. She refuses to reply. They struggle and end up in bed, kissing.

A pleasant moment promising that things can actually get better for them, as long as they are in love. This is the sequence's false victory moment.

An ancient tragedy "chorus" of old men play ball and gossip about the tavern's new manager. A glimpse of the public opinion. I guess, some dramatic devices never change.

Giovanna comes in with Don Remigio, the priest and finds Gino drinking. She wants to get the priest to agree on their marriage, but Don Remigio says that this will not stop the gossip. Plus, she must think of her duties as a mourning widow. The priest advises Gino to get a different job, but Giovanna doesn't like it.


Gino tells her they should leave the place. She wants to stay, so that they don't raise suspicions. She agrees that they can leave the place, but not yet. Gino has to put up with this job for a little more.

"Some job: keeping an eye on the house of a dead man," says Gino. CUT TO: a black-clad woman with a sickle enters. A wonderful, little, tragicomic gag.

A festival in the tavern. It is full of people drinking and dancing. Among them sits the man with the moustache, dressed in a slick suit and hat.

The festival is used as an ironic contrast to the dark psychological state of the characters. The merrier the festival, the greater the irony. It is impossible for the characters to forget what they have done.

In the upstairs bedroom, Gino is drinking, lost in his dark thoughts. Through the window, he spots Spagnolo, among the crowd outside, and he, merrily, runs downstairs. The man with the moustache sees Gino and follows him outside. Spagnolo sees a changed Gino, who has settled and doesn't want to travel anymore. When Spagnolo scolds Gino's dubious method of getting his fortune, Gino punches him. The man with the moustache intervenes, asking if Spagnolo needs help. Spagnolo walks away.

From the beginning of the film: tavern-owner Bragana shouting after vagabond Gino.

Now: tavern-owner Gino shouting after vagabond Spagnolo. In both images, the same street and the same story: a tavern-owner abusing a vagabond, sending him away, and then running after him. The use of a similar mise en scène and camera setup suggests that Gino is transforming into a new Bragana.

The man with the moustache warns Giovanna that Gino can be dangerous. He walks away and makes a phonecall.

In the police department, Spagnolo walks in.

After his last confrontation with Gino, Spagnolo changes from ally to enemy.

- "Do you want to eat?" - "I'm not hungry." The appetite motif, which represents their passion, continues.

After the festival, Gino sits, outside, alone. Giovanna comes to invite him back in. Gino reminisces his trips and his freedom, as if she is not there. He goes upstairs and Giovanna eats alone.

This sequence's protagonists are Gino and Giovanna, who both want to move on after Bragana's death. The conflict comes from the opposing directions they want to follow: Gino (whose background is that of a vagabond) wants to sell the tavern and leave, but Giovanna (whose background is that of a woman married to money) wants to settle there. She is happy to have both the tavern and her man to herself. She asks for the priest to marry them and she organises a festival in the tavern, so that everybody accepts the tavern's new management. By the end of the sequence, with Gino's last line ("I'm not hungry.") we see the two lovers becoming estranged.

F. Gino leaves Giovanna

In Ferrara, Gino hits on a young woman, sitting at a piazza. She tells him she is a ballerina and asks him to accompany her to the theatre, but he refuses. When she walks away, a man approaches Gino and tells him where the girl lives, insinuating that she is a prostitute.

Giovanna comes and tells Gino that Bragana has had a life insurance of 50,000 liras. Thinks that Giovanna has used him to get her hands on Bragana's life insurance money, Gino leaves her there and walks away.

Gino waits in the girl's room. A song coming from outside the door announces her, just as it happens with Giovanna in the film's beginning.

Gino finds the place where the girl lives, while Giovanna follows him from a distance. She sits at a café, while Gino enters the girl's building and waits in her room. When she comes, he stops her from taking her blouse off. Instead, he offers to get something to eat, and they exit together.

Giovanna sees them coming out of the building together and she confronts them, driving the girl away. She asks Gino to come home with her. When he refuses, Giovanna threatens him: if he doesn't come back, she can always tell the police. Gino slaps her and walks back inside the girl's building.

Gino goes to Anita's room. She stops him from explaining. They get to bed.

Sequence's protagonist: Giovanna, who wants to get Gino back, but he refuses to follow.


ACT III

G. The crime is revealed

The break to any mystery film's third act requires new evidence: two witnesses appear out of nowhere. How come they haven't appeared earlier? The police inspector asks the same thing. "We travel a lot because of our work," answer the men. The vagabond's motif is called to justify what would otherwise be an out-of-a-hat dramatic solution.

In the police department, two men testify having seen Gino and Giovanna jump out of the truck, as it fell to a crash. The man with the moustache is there, too. He says that he'll bring Gino for questioning.

Gino tells all about his crime to Anita, the prostitute, who doesn't make judgements. Meanwhile, the man with the moustache learns where Gino is and waits for him at the café across Anita's building. Gino sees the man from the window and makes sense of all his mysterious visits: he is a secret policeman. Thinking that Giovanna has betrayed him, he asks Anita to keep the policeman busy until he flees. She agrees to help him, but it's her turn to feel used.

After Gino explains his escape plan, Anita tells him: "I'll say that I'm angry with you, because you didn't pay me." The power of this line lies on its truth and its subtext: indeed, Gino has not paid the prostitute, because the prostitute has fallen in love with him. She is angry, because he is exploiting her love.

While Anita plays her part, Gino escapes from the roof and reaches the train station. The place is full of policemen, so he jumps onto the back of a moving truck and escapes.

Gino chasing a moving truck: he gets back to the old habit of travelling light.

Back at the tavern, Gino accuses Giovanna of reporting him to the police, but she says she has not. She announces him that she is pregnant with his child. Gino walks out, lost.


H. The lovers' escape

Looking for Gino all night, Giovanna finds him wandering at the beach. Gino tells her he love her and they forgive each other. They agree to leave the place. Gino realises that the man with the moustache knows where he is, so they get off to prepare their escape.

They drive away in their car. They pep talk each other about their baby and their future. Gino says that he will take care of her always.

The police arrives at the tavern, where a little girl tells them where the lovers have gone. They drive off to find them.

The lovers get stuck behind a large truck. When Gino tries to overtake the truck, they fall out of the road, into the sea.

Another ironic element: the road accident, which made them start a new life is the same thing that destroyed them.

Gino gets out of the car and pulls out Giovanna, dead. He takes her up on the road. The police car arrives and the man with the moustache arrests Gino.

The End