Senso is a 1954 Italian historical melodrama film directed and co-written by Luchino Visconti, based on Camillo Boito's novella of the same name.

The title refers to the delight Livia experiences while reflecting on her affair with a handsome lieutenant, in spite of her political convictions.

In spring of 1866, a performance of Il Trovatore at La Fenice opera house in Venice is interrupted at the close of Manrico's rousing aria "Di quella pira" by a boisterous protest by Italian Nationalists against the occupying Austrian troops present in the theater.

Livia Serpieri, an Italian countess, unhappily married to a stuffy older aristocrat, witnesses this and tries to conceal the fact that her cousin Marchese Roberto Ussoni has organized the protest.

The war finally forces the lovers apart, with Livia's husband taking her away to their villa in the country in order to avoid the carnage.

In adapting the novella, Visconti chose not to incorporate the diary aspect and deleted the character of Gino entirely to focus solely on the events that take place during the War.

The episode in which Livia gives the money meant for the Italian partisans to her lover, leading to a dramatic massacre, is also not in Boito's story.

Visconti changed the name as a tribute to Gustav Mahler, one of his favourite composers, whose music features prominently in his later film Death in Venice (1971).

Another musical aspect of the film that was added to the story is the opening, which takes place during an opera (in Boito's novella, the protagonists first meet at a swimming bath).

Other filming locations included Villa Godi, the Venetian Ghetto, the Cannaregio canal, Castel Sant'Angelo, and Valeggio sul Mincio.

When the shoot ran long and Krasker had to leave due to another commitment, camera operator Giuseppe Rotunno stepped in and lensed the remaining scenes, including Mahler's execution.

A truncated English-language version of the film recut to 94 minutes and featuring dialogue written by Tennessee Williams and Paul Bowles was released under the title The Wanton Countess.

[4] After reading Boito's novella and finding himself unsatisfied with Visconti's rather liberal adaptation, Tinto Brass re-adapted the work as the 2002 film Senso '45 (retitled Black Angel for the international release), starring Anna Galiena as Livia and Gabriel Garko as her lover.