We can speculate on the roots
of its
popularity: that it satisfies the genre and arthouse crowds; that it uses framing, sound, editing and camera
movement to unreel a transfixing tale and flesh out excruciatingly authentic characters; that it dares to coax out the ghosts lurking in every watery passageway in Venice, Europe's most ornate and singular city; that it contains arguably the
greatest sex scene on film.