Gino, a drifter, begins an affair with inn-owner Giovanna as they plan to get rid of her older husband.
Because this was based on the novel "The Postman Always Rings Twice", by James M. Cain, it was not widely seen outside of Italy. Apparently nobody bothered to get the rights to the novel before filming it. And because this is Luchino Visconti's first feature film, that means very few people were able to learn about Visconti until years later.
"Ossessione" is considered by many to be the first Italian neorealist film, though there is some debate about whether such a categorization is accurate. I have no opinion on that one way or the other. Though it may be true, it has not gone down as one of the biggest neorealist films, for whatever that may be worth.
Because this was based on the novel "The Postman Always Rings Twice", by James M. Cain, it was not widely seen outside of Italy. Apparently nobody bothered to get the rights to the novel before filming it. And because this is Luchino Visconti's first feature film, that means very few people were able to learn about Visconti until years later.
"Ossessione" is considered by many to be the first Italian neorealist film, though there is some debate about whether such a categorization is accurate. I have no opinion on that one way or the other. Though it may be true, it has not gone down as one of the biggest neorealist films, for whatever that may be worth.