Analysis of a scene: Ossessione

OSSESSIONE: THE STRANGER MEETS GIOVANNA

This boy-meets-girl scene occurs near the film's beginning. It is the inciting incident of this dark romance by Luchino Visconti.

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.

Protagonist's general strategy: seeing the effect that he has on her, the stranger decides to charm Giovanna. He compliments her looks and cooking, and he also makes her drool when he takes his jacket off, exposing his strong shoulders.

Scene's major beats (see the Glossary page for explanations on the terms):

SETUP: Looking for something to eat, the Stranger walks into the kitchen and finds Giovanna polishing her fingernails. Giovanna is a young and elegant woman, whose crude and obese husband makes her cook for his patrons. On the other hand, the stranger is a handsome, young man, a little rough-cut, but very different to Giovanna's husband. They instantly get attracted to each other.

CATALYST: He asks for food. (Subtext: They are instantly attracted to each other.)

DEBATE: She tells him to get out of the kitchen. (Subtext: her resistance to the sexual attraction.)

BREAK TO SCENE'S ACT II: He boldly approaches the cooker and tastes the food.

NEW WORLD: He compliments her looks and her cooking. This is all new for Giovanna, a woman whose sexual virtues and needs seem to have been overlooked for too long. It seems that he has almost achieved his goal, when Giovanna orders him, again, to wait in the other room.

APPROACH TO INMOST CAVE: The stranger ignores her once again. Moreover, he takes his coat off, flashing his strong arms and shoulders at the woman. She, finally, gives in and serves him the food in the kitchen.

MIDPOINT (false victory): The stranger sits down with a plate of food before him. He has what he has come in there for [+].

BAD GUYS CLOSE IN: Bragana's voice echoes in the tavern. The stranger can't eat.

ALL IS LOST (false defeat): Bragana comes in and kicks the stranger out. The stranger hits the road, hungry again [-]. (Subtext: Even worse, the untold romance is about to end prematurely.)

BREAK TO SCENE'S ACT III: Giovanna pulls a trick and gets her husband to call the stranger back into the tavern [+].

The scene's end is a remarkable "hook" that keeps us interested to see what will happen next. Will the stranger understand Giovanna's trick and invitation?

Check the film's full analysis here.