The Leopard - Criterion Collection (1963)

"If we want things to stay as they are, things will have to change."

"We were the Leopards, the Lions, those who'll take our place will be little jackals, hyenas; and the whole lot of us, Leopards, jackals, and sheep, we'll all go on thinking ourselves the salt of the earth."

Despite his Academy Award-nominated film, The Damned, Italian theatre and cinema director, Luchino Visconti (1906-1976), is best known for his historical drama, The Leopard. Based on Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa's eight-part, 1958 novel, Il Gattopardo (The Leopard), Visconti's 1963 film chronicles the changes in Sicilian life and society during the Risorgimento (the political and social Resurgence that unified the different states of the Italian peninsula into the single, unified, democratic state of Italy in the 19th century). The film follows the aristocratic Salina family, ruled by melancholy Prince Don Fabrizio (Burt Lancaster), an aging womanizer, who eventually experiences an existential crisis when he loses his aristocratic authority over his family and tenants. (I have read that Visconti initially hoped to secure Laurence Olivier for the role of Prince Fabrizio, but the film's producers chose Hollywood star Lancaster for the part intead, thereby inulting Visconti. Few would disagree, however, that Lancaster plays the role to perfection. "It was my best work," Lancaster later told Roger Ebert.) Alain Delon (Le Samourai) plays Prince Fabrizio's hotheaded nephew, Tancredi, and Claudia Cardinale plays his beautiful fiancée, Angelica. The film's final, 45-minute ballroom scene is breathtaking, and is reason enough to experience this perfect masterpiece in cinema. The ballroom scene represents the last celebration of a dying age. The film was released in several versions. Visconti's cut was 205 minutes long. He later edited it to 185 minutes for its official release. The English version ("ruthlessly hacked" by 20th Century Fox, as Roger Ebert notes) has a running length of 161 minutes, a version that Visconti condemned: "It is now a work for which I acknowledge no paternity at all," he said, adding that Hollywood treats Americans "like a public of children." The Criterion Collection presents the film in both Visconti's original Italian version, and the alternate English-language version.

I consider Roger Ebert's 2003 review of The Leopard exceptionally illuminating: http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article

The Criterion Collection's Special Edition three-disc set of The Leopard features a newly restored high-definition digital transfer, supervised by director of photography Giuseppe Rotunno, with restored image and sound and presented in the original Super Technirama aspect ratio of 2.21:1; a new transfer of the 161-minute American release, with English-language dialogue (including Burt Lancaster's actual voice); audio commentary by film scholar Peter Cowie; "A Dying Breed: The Making of The Leopard," a new hour-long documentary featuring interviews with Claudia Cardinale, screenwriter Suso Ceccho D'Amico, cinematographer Giuseppe Rotunno, filmmaker Sydney Pollack, and many others; an interview with producer Goffredo Lombardo; an exclusive video interview with professor Millicent Marcus of the University of Pennsylvania on the history behind The Leopard; the original theatrical trailers and newsreels; a stills gallery of rare behind-the-scenes production photos; a new essay by author and film historian Michael Wood; and new and improved English subtitle translation. Highly recommended as a quintessential experience in epic cinema.

G. Merritt October 24, 2008

Not Overwhelmed

I'm a Lancaster fan, and he was fine in this richly made production, but the story was not carried along rapidly enough to keep my attention, nor was the then new Italian starlette (whose name escapes me) particularly entrancing. Measured against his other work, this rates two stars. August 7, 2008

Beautiful film but baffling DVD

The film is incredible, but the DVD left me confused. First of all, this is NOT the original cut of this film. Secondly, the sides are chopped off. Then the English version is some horrible print. Why didn't they use the restored print for this? Contrary to people who have written reviews here, I prefer the English dubbed version. I would rather hear the real Burt Lancaster than listen to some bad Italian actor. And since Alain Delon is also dubbed by someone else in Italian, I would rather not read subtitles. Fans at least deserve a restored version in English. I know the english dubbed version is trimmed by twenty minutes but that isn't so bad in this films case. The 185 version is trimmed from the 305 version anyway. And what's up with that? They got stills from the missing footage but they don't have the actual missing footage? Maybe Criterion is sitting on it so they can re-release it on the even-more-extended Blu Ray version? And why IS the aspect ratio wrong on the restored edition but on the English dubbed crap-print, it's correct? Someone really screwed up. February 18, 2008

Well worth a second viewing with the English commentary on

Other reviewers have provided plenty of information on this film which I won't repeat here. Nor will I indulge in a bout of political or philosophic pontification which does little justice to the viewer's independent judgement or the film itself. In response to some of the fiery commentaries posted earlier, I'd only say - Visconti was far too subtle a film-maker to wear his politics on his sleeve, and the film was a complex work of art and not a piece of ideological agit-prop. No fiery rhetoric to stir one's heart, no panning shots of peasant misery to rouse one's indignation here. In fact, I was impressed - given the director's self-professed Communist associations - how true the film stayed to the novel's decaying (some would say decadent) aristocratic vision.

The Criterion edition of the DVD comes with English audio commentary by film critic Peter Cowie. Cowie's commentary provides an interesting comparison between the film and the novel on which it is based, and at the same time is chockful of subtle period historical and social details which the viewer might have otherwise missed. For that the film is well worth two viewings - once with the original Italian soundtrack and once with the audio commentary, and the second viewing is well worth the time because one gets twice as much out of the film the second time.
February 17, 2008

Yes, it IS a great film, and yet...

There's no question that Il Gatopardo, as the movie is called in Italian, is Italy's answer to "Gone With the Wind." That said, this viewer was left hanging at the close of the story. Parts of it are truly brilliant; the acting is powerful; even the dubbing of Lancaster's voice isn't bad. And yet....I came away feeling that something was missing. Ever get that feeling? You can't put your finger on it, but you know something just isn't there. Maybe it needs another viewing...or two...or three...? February 15, 2008

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