There’s nowhere on earth quite like Venice. The floating city, with its looming domes, bustling canals, spindly bridges, waterfront palazzos, and drifting gondolas, sometimes feels like a hazy, idyllic land from a half-remembered dream. It’s why this glittering collection of islands has inspired everyone from Henry James and Edith Wharton to Casanova, Byron, Hemingway, and Cocteau, not to mention auteurs like Luchino Visconti and David Lean, who turned their lenses on La Serenissima’s shimmering waters and honey-hued churches.
But just as filmmakers have been captivated by the jaw-dropping beauty of Venice, they’ve also been intrigued by its mystery—when night falls, the city transforms into a misty, deserted, dimly lit labyrinth where a slowly simmering sense of danger seems to lurk just beneath the surface of the lagoon. As a result, for every sun-drenched, Venice-set rom-com there are also plenty of spine-chillers which hone in on the city’s inherent spookiness.
It’s this sheer abundance of atmosphere and theatricality that makes it the perfect setting for the Venice Film Festival, the oldest cinematic showcase of its kind, which kicks off its glamorous 81st edition on August 28. Ahead of opening night, we take a look back at the most ravishing releases that have played out on these historic streets and waterways, from the ’50s to now.