Luchino Visconti

Luchino Visconti was an Italian filmmaker and opera director regarded as one of the towering figures of 20th century cinema. Known for The Leopard (Il Gattopardo, 1963), Death in Venice (Morte a Venezia, 1971), Ludwig (1972), and The Damned (La Caduta degli dei, 1969), his films consistently engaged with decadence, decay, the erotic charge of beauty, and the collapse of aristocratic orders. He was openly gay within his circle and his homosexuality inflected the sensibility of his art throughout his career. Death in Venice — adapted from Thomas Mann's novella about an aging artist's fatal infatuation with a beautiful boy — remains one of the most celebrated films about same-sex desire in cinema history.