The Damned (Italian: La caduta degli dei [literally, "The Fall of the Gods"], German: Die Verdammten (Götterdämmerung)) is a 1969 Italian-German drama film written and directed byLuchino Visconti. The Damned has often been regarded as the first of Visconti's films described as "The German Trilogy", followed by Death in Venice (1971) and Ludwig (1973). Henry Bacon (1998) specifically categorizes these films together under a chapter "Visconti & Germany". Visconti's earlier films had analyzed Italian society during the Risorgimento and postwar periods. Peter Bondanella's Italian Cinema (2002) depicts the trilogy as a move to take a broader view of European politics and culture. Stylistically, "They emphasize lavish sets and costumes, sensuous lighting, painstakingly slow camerawork, and a pen