Overview
A family's dark secrets unravel during a fateful dinner, leading to betrayal and chaos.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Extreme
- Complexity
- Dense
- Violence
- Graphic
- operatic
- grotesque
- decadent
- serious film study
- classic cinema evening
What critics said
Critics broadly acclaim Visconti’s lavish, stylized historical drama for connecting political opportunism, sexual neurosis, and aristocratic moral decay, while noting that its decorative artificiality can become circuitous.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Visconti presents the Von Essenbeck dynasty, Nazi political ascent, and family betrayals through grand interiors, ritualized gatherings, and deliberately artificial stylization.
The industrial family’s wealth and succession struggle become entangled with the Nazi party’s rise in 1934 Germany.
Martin’s abusive appetites, incestuous dynamics, cross-dressing, and the family’s coercive sexuality are connected to political opportunism and social corruption.
The Von Essenbeck great house and company form the central arena for murder, succession, betrayal, and ideological realignment.
Films like The Damned, and why
The Conformist
stylized historical drama about fascism, aristocratic decadence, and moral collapse
The Leopard
operatic family conflict, political extremism, and corrosive power within a wealthy dynasty
Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom
provocative art cinema linking sexual transgression, authoritarianism, and psychological cruelty
The Night Porter
intergenerational family trauma and fascist-era historical reckoning rendered through severe European melodrama
Movie Details
- Director
- Luchino Visconti
- Release Date
- 1969-10-30
- Runtime
- 158 min
- Rating
- 7.3 / 10 (238)
Cast
- Dirk Bogarde
- Ingrid Thulin
- Helmut Griem
- Helmut Berger
- Renaud Verley
- Umberto Orsini
- Reinhard Kolldehoff
- Albrecht Schoenhals
- Florinda Bolkan
- Nora Ricci
Common questions
- What is The Damned about?
- An operatic portrait of an industrial dynasty whose lust for survival and power mirrors Germany’s descent into Nazism.
- What is The Damned like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of The Damned as measured, its intensity as extreme and its storytelling as dense.
- Is The Damned violent?
- Yes. Ember rates the violence in The Damned as graphic.
- What did critics think of The Damned?
- Critics broadly acclaim Visconti’s lavish, stylized historical drama for connecting political opportunism, sexual neurosis, and aristocratic moral decay, while noting that its decorative artificiality can become circuitous.
- Which films are like The Damned?
- Films with a similar feel include The Conformist, The Leopard, Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom, and The Night Porter.
- How long is The Damned?
- The Damned runs 158 minutes.
