Visconti focused on the main plot, deleting the diary subplot and the character of Gino entirely. The film pushes Livia's story into the background and gives more detail to the war itself while introducing a new subplot about Livia's nationalist cousin, Roberto Ussoni, who leads a rebellion against the Austrians. In the film, Livia gives his money to her lover, leading to a dramatic massacre of the Italian partisans, an episode not in Boito's original story. Visconti strayed so far away from the original source, that at one point he thought of renaming the film "Custoza", after the big battle that occurs during the climax, but was denied due to legal reasons. The character of Franz Mahler is named Remigio Ruz in the novella; Visconti changed the name as a tribute to Gustav Mahler, one of his favourite composers, whose music features in the later "Death in Venice". There's also a thematic connection with the film's opening, set in an opera; the scene does not feature in Boito's novella, where the protagonists first meet at a swimming bath. A truncated English-language version, recut to 94 minutes, was released with the title "The Wanton Countess" and contains dialogue written by Tennessee Williams and Paul Bowles. G.R. Aldo's cinematography for the film received the Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists' award. Visconti was nominated for the Golden Lion award at the 15th Venice International Film Festival. Roger Ebert gave it four out of four stars, listing it as one of his "Great Movies." A digitally restored version of the film was released on DVD and Blu-ray by The Criterion Collection in February 2011. The release includes "The Wanton Countess", the rarely seen English-language version of the film, "the Making of “Senso",” a new documentary featuring Rotunno, assistant director Francesco Rosi, costume designer Piero Tosi, and Caterina D’Amico, daughter of screenwriter Suso Cecchi D’Amico and author of "Life and Work of Luchino Visconti", "Viva VERDI", a new documentary on Visconti, Senso, and opera, a visual essay by film scholar Peter Cowie, and "Man of Three Worlds: Luchino Visconti", a 1966 BBC program exploring Visconti’s mastery of cinema, theater, and opera direction.