“Senso” (夏の嵐), Ultra‑Rare Original Japanese B2 First‑Release Poster — 1955 First Japanese Release (October 1955) — approx. 20.3 × 28.7 in (51.5 × 72.8 cm) P255

This is an original Japanese poster printed for the film’s first Japanese theatrical release. 

About the film
Directed by Luchino Visconti and adapted from Camillo Boito with screenplay contributions from Suso Cecchi D’Amico, Carlo Alianello, Giorgio Bassani, and Giorgio Prosperi, Senso stars Alida Valli, Farley Granger, and Massimo Girotti. Set in 1866 against Austrian occupation and the upheaval of Italian unification, it follows an Italian countess whose torrid affair with an Austrian lieutenant drives her toward betrayal and ruin.

The Film & Its Place in Visconti’s Legacy
This film is one of the decisive turning points in Visconti’s career. Japanese distributor IVC describes it as his first color film and one of the defining works of his middle period, uniting operatic splendor with the hard realism of his earlier cinema; BFI likewise identifies it as Visconti’s first film in colour, while Criterion presents it as the lush Technicolor tragedy in which the former neorealist moved into boldly melodramatic territory. In other words, Senso is not simply an early Visconti title—it is the moment the later Visconti of The Leopard and the great aristocratic historical dramas truly comes into view.

Senso in Japan
What makes this Japanese paper especially appealing is the way the original campaign reframed the film for local audiences. The sheet preserves the official Japanese title 夏の嵐 while also printing the striking period subtitle 官能の夜, and the copy at upper left sells the picture as a blazing Venetian romance of doomed passion. Rather than emphasizing political history first, the Japanese design foregrounds desire, fatalism, and star glamour—a perfect fit for Visconti’s fusion of spectacle and obsession.

Poster design
A spectacular, unmistakably country-specific Japanese design gives the film a display power very different from standard European paper. The composition is dominated by a huge, luminous portrait of Alida Valli, seated with hairbrush in hand against a deep crimson ground, while Farley Granger appears beside her in white and a smaller inset vignette at lower right hints at the lovers’ doomed encounter. The oversized red title 夏の嵐, the elegant green ornamental flourishes, and the smaller 官能の夜 line below transform Visconti’s historical melodrama into a bold piece of mid-1950s Japanese poster art.

Why collectors prize this example
Collectors respond strongly to Senso because it brings together several enduring points of appeal in one original Japanese first-release sheet: Visconti’s first color masterpiece, Alida Valli at her most iconic, Farley Granger in one of his great European roles, and a film now widely regarded as a key work in the director’s evolution. This B2 adds another layer of desirability because it is not routine export paper but a first-release Japanese-market design with its own typography, its own subtitle treatment, and its own original distribution markings. For collectors of Visconti, Italian cinema, and vintage Japanese poster art, it has real crossover appeal.

Condition
Remarkably excellent for its age. With only very minor, soft handling creasing visible chiefly on close inspection. The front remains unusually fresh and highly displayable, with rich saturated color, a clean overall appearance, and strong visual impact. The blank verso shows the expected signs of age and storage more clearly than the front, including even toning, pronounced image show-through, fold impressions, and some light superficial scuffing/soiling concentrated toward the upper margin and left side. Overall, however, this is an exceptionally well-preserved example for a 1950s Japanese B2, with outstanding wall presence. Please review the supplied photographs carefully—shown is the exact poster offered.

It is not a reproduction or a reprint.

A rare opportunity to acquire an original first-release Japanese Senso B2 poster—a beautifully preserved, visually sumptuous 1955 sheet for one of Visconti’s foundational masterworks, pairing Alida Valli, Farley Granger, and the lush fatalism of 夏の嵐 with a strikingly elegant Japanese design.