The film "Death to Venice" embodies a "Platonic love". Regarding "Platonic love", you can refer to the interpretation of Plato's "Symposium" in the first five drawings (from the book "The Power of Thought (9th Edition)"). I often see countless people equating "Platonic love" with homosexuality in daily life, and there are many similar comments on this movie. I think it is difficult to understand the connotation of "Platonic love" and the charm of this movie. . "Platonic love" was summed up and extended from the "Symposium" by later generations. In Plato's "Symposium", he did not oppose carnal love, but spiritual love was more advanced, and extended the discussion of virtue from the spirit, because to love the spirit will definitely love the virtue. Therefore, "Platonic love" is the sublime spiritual love.
The protagonist of the film, Gustav (Aschenbach), is a composer. His aesthetic view is relatively conservative, he believes that beauty is rational, regular, pure and moral. This also represents Gustav's understanding of the "truth, goodness and beauty" in the real world. His aesthetics are similar to those of Plato's philosophy. Plato divided the world of ideas and the world of sense. The world of ideas is perfect and beautiful, and the world of perception is created by Demiurge, the creator of perfection and beauty, according to the existing world of ideas, and the world of perception is just the projection of the world of ideas. In Plato's cave metaphor, the walls of the cave project the sunlight coming in from the hole. The outside of the cave symbolizes the world of ideas, and the inside of the cave symbolizes the world of perception. In Plato's philosophy, the soul exists in the world of ideas and is immortal, while the body only exists in the world of perception and is created. Therefore, the flesh has limitations, and this is the so-called "fall of man". Because of the body, people cannot maintain the perfection and beauty of the soul in the world of ideas in the real world. This is also the reason why Gustav cannot combine knowledge and action in the film. His concept is too perfect and strict, but people will eventually "fallen", which leads to his artistic creation dilemma.
When Gustave came to Venice facing an artistic dilemma, he met a beautiful young man named Tacchio. Tacchio in the movie doesn't have any dialogue or close contact with Gustav (I tend to think that touching the forehead is Gustav's imagination). Tacchio is the perfect embodiment of Gustavian aesthetics, perfection and beauty. Literary and artistic images need to serve aesthetics, and sometimes realistic logic must be sacrificed. Stories like Gustave and Tacchio cannot be explained by realistic logic.
The process of Gustav chasing the beautiful boy also symbolizes his persistence and dedication to his own aesthetics. However, just like his artistic predicament, his pursuit of the beautiful boy is faced with the same waves - the plague of Venice. Gustav unfortunately contracted the plague in the process of chasing, but he still did not give up, only insisted. The body of the sensory world will eventually die, and Gustav is no match for the plague. On the way to chase the beautiful boy, his body finally fell down forever.
I don't know if Gustav was freed from his predicament at the last minute. He seems to have always stuck to his aesthetic. In Plato's philosophy, the soul is immortal, and perhaps his physical death is his real liberation, so that he can return to the original soul of perfection and beauty, and his aesthetics can be complete.
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