The Leopard -- What Makes This Movie Great? (Episode 53) 

Absolute masterpiece. The best costumes and sets in the history of cinema. Visconti demanded that the buttons were sewn in the same way as in the nineteenth century and that the clothes were stored in closed drawers. This is a level of perfectionism still unsurpassed in the seventh art. Lancaster was initially imposed against Visconti's wishes, for American audiences. But he gave an extraordinary performance. An extraordinary work of art, unsurpassed in philology. I doubt, however, that audiences in America can grasp the infinite historical, social, moral and political implications that the film illustrates. Claudia Cardinale was one of the greatest actresses of her era. And Alain Delon is irresistible. The choice of music is also a lesson in filmmaking. Visconti was a cellist. He was also an aristocrat who belonged to one of the most important Italian historical families, but above all he was a communist intellectual committed to critically recounting Italian society and its class.

Sensational film. It's grandiose, grounded, poignant and transcendant all at the same time.

This is a movie I truly love. It is so rich aesthetically and intellectually. You can repeat the movie and notice new details and nuances of the characters or the historical background you hadn’t seen before. Visconti expects his viewers to be as educated and refined as himself. Let’s take one example, the entrance of Don Calogero, followed by his daughter Angelica a little before the 1 hr marker. I think an hour could be spent commenting on these 4 minutes. First the social and political implications of the old aristocracy welcoming the newly rich (represented by Don Calogero) into their home, then the entrance of Angelica, where every single glance and gesture has a meaning even foreshadowing the future romance of Angelica and Tancredi of different social classes and the disillusionment of Concetta - all placed to the background of Nino Rota’s beautiful music, Piero Tosi’s great costumes and the gorgeous sets.

The Leopard saves the family, by endorsing Tancredi's marriage. He sees that her low-class father will have power under the new system. Then he gives her the full societal stamp of approval by dancing with her. This is also why she is so insistent that he do so. She understands the symbolism. The class gap between Tancredi and his bride is an important part of the story.

This feels very much like an Italian "Gone With the Wind" - historical fiction with grand, epic shots with characters from the nobility/elites lamenting their change in fortunes.

Visconti, being of aristocratic origin himself, would surely identify with the protagonist of the novel/movie! At the same time, he understood that all this majestic "old world" was destined to get lost: the melancoly of this movie lies exactly on that feeling, of something old and precious which, alas, cannot stand the test of time...

Enjoyed your review. This is probably one of my favorite movies! I first saw it as a teenager as my Italian grandmother liked Visconti's work. She loved the movie Senso. While I enjoyed this one more as Burt Lancaster and Alain Delon are 2 amazing actors. Thanks again!

One of the truly great movies. Lancaster at his aristocratic very best!

The Leopard is my all-time favorite movie. Burt Lancaster gives one of his best performances as a 19th Century Italian aristocrat adapting to a world that is changing around him. Alain Delon, Claudia Cardinale and the supporting cast are all superb. Luchino Viscounti weaves an elegant tapestry enhanced by one of the best musical scores ever composed for a film. This is not a film for everybody, but for those with a sense of history and an appreciation of the subtleties of quality moviemaking, it is a masterpiece. I totally agree with you on Burt Lancaster being dubbed into Italian by another actor and then subtitled into English. While some of Lancaster’s performance does come through with his facial expressions, much of an Oscar-caliber performance is lost in this dubbing. Italian movies at this time were filmed without sound with dialogue being added later in the language of the country where the film was being shown. Thus, in the 1963 American version Burt Lancaster and Leslie French (Cavalier Chevalley) dubbed their own voices in English. Also, I usually don’t have a problem with subtitled movies, but at times the subtitles in the Italian version that's been shown on TCM were very difficult to read, especially when set against light-colored backgrounds. The original American release has been maligned and rightfully so for its cuts, inferior color and some “lousy” dubbing, but for me it is the version which made “The Leopard” a great movie. I cannot say the same thing had I seen the Italian version first.

For everything to stay the same, everything must change. I remember when I first read this sentence from a chapter in the book as homework for my Italian literature class in high school. It was late spring, and I discussed it with my father, who loved the movie. We had different interpretations of it-a beautiful memory. The film is amazing, and so is the book, truly a masterpiece. I can't speak for the translated versions, but the author's Italian is extremely elegant and pleasing to read. It's one of my favorite pieces of Italian literature. To think that it was initially rejected by many publishers... I think you made a very beautiful video about it. As you said, the historical background provides context for the movie. Italy was indeed unified, but the process was a bit more complicated. The film does give some references that I will try to point out, as far as my understanding goes. Sicily was under the rule of the King of Naples, as part of the Kingdom of Two Sicilies. In the film, the Prince says that nothing will change with the new order; before the rulers spoke Neapolitan, now they speak Piedmontese. The film is set after the death of the old Neapolitan king, Ferdinando di Borbone, when his "weaker" son, Francesco, mockingly called "Franceschiello" (little/small Francesco), was on the throne. Remember when Tancredi says to his uncle, "Yes, loyal to the king, but what king? Had it been Ferdinando... but this Franceschiello..." The Kingdom of Piedmont in the North, with its capital Turin, had annexed/liberated from the Austrians part of northern Italy but didn't plan on annexing the south immediately. The expedition led by Garibaldi is taught in our Italian schools as a heroic act of volunteers and patriots, which is part of the story, but it was also sponsored by the British Navy. This is quite hidden, but remember when the Prince tells the Piedmontese who came to propose a place for him in the Senate that Sicilians would never change and learn good manners because they considered themselves gods? He said that to some English navy officers who were casually at his palace. The reasons for the British participation are out of scope here, but again, Garibaldi was a complex figure. His act was not a revolution. As his second-in-command, Nino Bixio, said to the masses who wanted to redistribute the lands of the nobles and the Church, "We are not here to redraw the property maps of Sicily," and then proceeded to bomb riots with cannons from his ship. Historical context aside, I also saw the movie as a critique of unified Italy's failures in meeting the hopes of the Risorgimento. It serves as a manual for politics and a personal drama-the one of the Prince-lived with dignity and resignation, and sometimes with a laugh at the new order's grotesque and pantomimical traits, like the poorly made suit of Don Calogero. The prince is nostalgic but he is not madly in love with the aristocracy as he comments on their appearance and uses in the ballroom part of the movie, but he is suspicious that the new order and the new ruling classes will be better than this. "We were the lions, the leopards; after us, there will be wolves and jackals. And each of them-lions, wolves, jackals, and sheep-will think they are the salt of the Earth." And when the Piedmontese asks him to repeat, he says, "Nothing," as he briefly let the mask slip, while his whole world is really fading into nothing at the music of a happy Mazurca.

A few things: All actors present during the dances are truly nobles, with true clothes, and the Maison( villa Ganci) is possible to visit and find in Palermo. The author’s family is one of the most ancient families in Europe and descended from the Roman Empire.

The movie is simply a masterpiece, but of the several versions available, it's important that you view The Criterion Collection version, all almost 3 hours of it. And, Claudia Cardinale is ravishingly beautiful.

I saw it in Spanish years ago. One of the biggest moments is when he finally surrenders to the idea of the new Italy, and says something like: "Let´s change some things, so in the end nothing changes". I don´t know how was dubbed into English and how was it in Italian, but it was the culmination of the film: the aristocrats will adapt to try to be on the top, this time as capitalists.

Don't know if someone else have pointed that out but they were praying the rosary at the beggining of the movie, not a latin mass. Great review tho

Che bello. Non credevo che il Gattopardo fosse così conosciuto all’estero.

I had to watch this for school and at the end I felt just as lost as at the beginning. Thank you for this video is helped a lot!

Thank you for this informative video! I learned something. Just to return the favor: the opening scene is the Rosary being prayed in Latin, not a Catholic Mass. Perhaps because Latin is so close to Italian, it was a custom for a long time in Italy for Catholics to pray the Rosary in Latin, and, in fact, you'll still find little remnant pockets of this custom in Italy to this day. But I think the opening scene still speaks to the larger point you were making about the broad cultural context of the world in which the movie was produced. The Second Vatican Council had been announced but had not yet started in May 1962 when filming began (the Council started in October 1962) so it was the hopes and ideas about Vatican II that we see projected in the movie, more than what Vatican II actually ended up doing. The first session of Vatican II (Oct-Dec 1962) didn't really accomplish much, and the big changes that we associate with Vatican II were still in the future by the time this film was finished in 1963.

Going on my watch list, for sure. Thank you for yet another excellent movie review.

Great review! Watched the film because of this video. I really liked it. It's easy to digest but heavier to analyse. As you've mentioned, certainly a feast for the eyes and use of interesting compositions. I'll have to let this one sink in a bit more but what I did notice is that the humour clicked for me. Not sure if that's something common or if I'm just odd.

Ravenously beautiful and sinfully sensuous, this film draws you into a world that can never exist on earth again. Not only the physical beauty of the characters, scenery and sets but more affectingly, the beauty of feeling the passing of an era that can now live only in memory.

i've never heard someone say the name out loud before so i always assumes it was pronounced "vie-kawntee"

This film is lavish and wistful. The Leopard in general features sumptuous costumes, epic battles and a ballroom waltz that competes for the most gorgeous sequence committed to film. Luchino Visconti is a master on his own right. I give this film a 9.4/10. A very influential film indeed. 😊😊👍👍

thanks for this video! very insightful, im currently writing a thesis on this one :)

Scorsese screened t a fully restored version for the cast of his most underrated film, The Age of Innocence, which, btw is a much more conservative film than most people realize.

The book is slightly different in the fact that it's also about Concita pushing Tancredi into the arms of Anjelica because she wrongly believes he is interested in her. Thus, she throws her happiness away.

Not to nitpick, and it’s possible someone has already pointed this out and I just didn’t see it, but at the beginning of the movie, the family is praying the rosary. That is not a mass. And also when the Prince of Salina kneels in the street as the priest passes by him, he is kneeling before Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament, which the priest is carrying and whose presence the acolyte is signaling with his little, brass bell. Minor points!

I love your analysis. I haven't watched this movie yet but I am planning to do so. I also subscribed to your channel.

Film meraviglioso, un capolavoro assoluto. Grazie per questo video!

Where can I watch the film with English subtitles? I enjoyed your commentary.

There is one scene, towards the end of the movie, where Don Fabrizio is about to leave the palace where the grandiose ball was taking place. He turns around and notices a room full of buckets, which I think were made of ceramics, lying on the floor. They were of different sizes, but they were all filled to the brim by something of a dark yellowish colour. Now, it's pretty obvious to me what that must have been, but I wonder if that's another hint at decadence.

I consider myself lucky because I don't need translations to enjoy both the book and the movie since I am Italian. And I wish I could talk about this story for hours XD. I liked your review - I was surprised to have found it in the first place! Though, I think that to say that it's a pro-aristocracy movie is a little reductive. Mind that the book was written after the end of the fascist regime, when Italy became a Republic, basically undergoing another "risorgimento". The Author, Giuseppe Tomasi de Lampedusa, was himself the descendant of a quite disgraced aristocratic family, and it's widely inspired by his own grandfather's life, the Prince of Lampedusa. This story is an accurate, witty and sharp picture of the power passage from the aristocracy to the rising bourgeoisie (as Angelica and Tancredi marriage symbolises). It's doesn't really take a position. The point here is to criticise the Unification process, the compromise, the politics behind it, the joke of the plebiscite, the point of view of all the "citizens" who simply saw things happen before their eyes without taking an active part to it. Tancredi's words about changing everything in order to make it stay as it is, that's the key to understanding. He apparently takes an active part in the revolution but only to make sure that they don't go too far and don't "arrange the Republic".

I have seen The Leopard and consider it a great film. Check out Rocco & his brothers.

Great review, thanks.

I was watching a video about the attention to detail in the new Netflix hit Brotherton and thought of this movie, one of my all time favourites. It made me wonder if the wide sweep, authentic locations, detailed costumes and jewellery all specially made had been influenced by this masterpiece.

Scorsese lists this in his top 10 movies of all time. I've yet to see it. A 3 hour subtitled film is a big investment, however, it is still on my watchlist. At first, before realizing it was dubbed, I was surprised to see both Lancaster and Delon in an Italian movie - thinking to myself, "wow, they both so talented acting in languages that are not their native tongues" lol.

The Leopard is a great movie. Is an epic picture of Sicily of that time

I've said this before on this page,(though I can't of the life of me I cann;t remember where), But two profoundly conservative (and brilliant ) novels that deserve screen adaptations (possibly even by Scorsese himself, are James Gould Cozzens masterpieces, the best novel about Lawyers and the law that was ever written, The Just and The Unjust, and the only truly great American novel to come out of World War 2, Guard Of Honor

Just watched this great and majestic movie. Sad that they don’t make this kind of movies anymore.

Pauline Kael wrote a review of the Leopard in the ‘80s when she was still working at the New Yorker and she loved it. This is the first film I’ve seen that she raved about in which I don’t share the enthusiasm. The cinematography is stunning and Burt Lancaster’s performance, especially towards the end, is quite affective. However, I do agree with people who say they like the film, but do not love it. This film didn’t feel as absorbing as so many others have. However, I am glad that I watched it.

I just subscribe to this channel, Luchino Visconti is one of my favorite directors ever! please make another review about Visconti films sir

Thank you for saving my grade!!!

It is a great movie. The book is even greater

Just watched this movie, it was recommended to me around the time when your video went up I wonder if the blog I saw it from watched your video. I really enjoyed this film, particularly the interplay between the Prince and his Priest. Those digs at the Jesuits really got me early in the film. The pacing was nice and easy, I had a great time sitting on the coach and watching this with my lady. Not sure she enjoyed it as much as I did. This might be a little out forced but I was reminded of the concept of the Anarch in regards to the Leopard, it might just be a small connection, but that is what I was most reminded of in regards to a man out of place. Just wondering your thoughts considering you are a literature professor. Thanks.

I love this film and I've just read all the comments below and learnt a lot from them.

I keep returning to this film amd I'm not sure why. I don't know the history and so a lot of it goes over my head but the technical aspects are incredible! In my top 5 most beautiful films ever made.

The best movie ever made. At second place Rashomon by Akira Kurosawa and, maybe A Clockwork Orange by Kubrik...

Our family goes to the Traditional Latin mass which is still said across the world.

7:06 "his family, i am told, is an old one, or soon will be". The prince already foresees that Don Calogero, with his money, will be able to buy a noble title, obviously false. And he says it with a bitter irony.

Very interesting review, good points. I loved the movie… great views, intelligent, refined… But I disagree with you on one point; undoubtedly the movie is about aristocracy but not pro-aristocracy. It’s sort of “a picture” of it but does not clearly deliver a strong positive or negative message about it. The points you make seem to me focused on the “charm” and elegance of aristocracy (manners, palaces, refined attitude), which is the superficial part of it. When you pay attention to the ideas and the behavior portrayed it’s the opposite. - Tancredi for instance: he is the first one stating “everything must change, so that it may remain the same” showing cynicism and an opportunistic approach. Also, in the end he supports the idea of his former comrades being executed in order to protect the new order. - I read in the same way the discussion between the Prince and the person he goes hunting with: the latter voted against the new kingdom because of personal gratitude to the old queen, whilst the Prince openly voted for the new kingdom for self interest. Honor is found in the low-middle class, cynicism in the aristocrat. - Then, when Don Calogero enters the ballroom Tancredi tears off the medal of the new kingdom, the message being “not here”, here there are the “real” aristocrats and Calogero is still considered inferior. - Another example: when Don Calogero tells to the Prince that he is going to be made baron and that it is an important title, the Prince openly laughs at him and walks away.. the same attitude of social entitlement and “arrogance” shown by Tancredi. So, from an external viewpoint there is elegance and charm in the aristocracy, but under the surface there are questionable behaviors…and this is perfectly consistent with Visconti’s political view. On the contrary, a willing pro-aristocracy message would be illogic considering the director’s communist ideals. This does not entirely apply to the Prince, despite the couple of examples above. He remains a positive character that commands respect, is intelligent, refined and shows remarkable qualities (back to your points about Cicero). He is part of aristocracy but cannot be considered the symbol of it, quite the opposite. At the ball he clearly feels unease, even alienated or out of place (chat with the colonel, his melancholy opposed to the others’ joyfulness, him walking in the poor alley rather than leaving on a coach) casting a shadow of decadence on it all. On another passage - when the Prince talks to the new government’s emissary - a personal view: I think that the Prince’s melancholic description of Sicily’ character sadly can largely apply to Italy as a whole. Again, great review, thanks!

Thank you ! この映画は私の宝物です。 しかし、戦闘シーンはあまり緊迫してないですが。 アランドロンよりバートランカスターの勝ちですね。 薄いパンより厚いパンの方がいいでしょう。 そもそもアランドロンはハンサムだ！ そもそもバートランカスターはもっとチャーミングだ！ 映画も良いかも知れないが、スターの演技の競演も見所です。 ありがとうございます。💖

I actually like the way you described the film at the end. I also respect this film a lot but I certainly don't love it.

When I truly find the time to watch it, I find it exceptional and cheerfully own it.

Damn, I didn't even know this was a movie and I've read the book.

My favorite movie. As you point out, it should be paired with The Godfather. If we look at this through a modernist lens, we can see how this movie along with Cinema Paradiso, Antonioni’s trilogy, l’Avventura, La Notte, and l’Eclisse, and The Great Beauty not so much express a longer for the aristocratic age, but rather the failure of the age that followed to create a world of love and beauty.

Is the film 1900 a sequel to this movie??? I think it was. Bertolucci directed, if memory serves😊

Something went wrong in Italy, it's pretty obvious this country was supposed to be at least as great as the US when to comes to cinema but now it's just... Eh.. Not so great, definitely far from Hollywood, And I wonder why, it used to have all the potential in the 60's

The Leopard is a cinematic masterpiece!

I think you went a bit off track with the religion part, even though Sicily is traditionally the most religious region of Italy, the Gattopardo found himself even contemplating the inexistence of a god and many times joked with the priest about the hypocrisy of the church. Many of the actions like kneeling before a priest or celebrating mass in Latin are cultural and historical based.

Have you ever watched the swimmer with Burt Lancaster? It’s in my top 10 ever

Bravo!

One of the great movies that I've been fortunate enough to see on the big screen and that I own on DVD. Absolutely breathtakingly beautiful, like the gorgeous Claudia Cardinale at her peak. Burt Lancaster regarded it as his best performance. One error, at the start of the film the family is saying the rosary, in its complete form, repeating the various prayers in a regular cycle, as they would have done each evening before dinner, and as is still common in catholic communities in Italy and elsewhere, and, being an aristocratic family having their own priest. I dont know if your familiar with Rossellini's Film made for Italian TV in the 70's called Viva Italia, which follows in detail Garibadi's march through Sicily with his Red Shirts, filmed in the actual locales and battlefields. Another beautifull film that pays close attention to details, filmed more like a documentary without the drama and passion of The Leopard , but makes an interesting companion piece. See the original Italian version rather than the dubbed an cut down 'made for America' version if you can.

IT IS AS IT WAS

Can you or any commenters find an explanation as to why Signor Visconti used the admittedly excellent Mr Lancaster and thus created all the dubbing issues for the film when he could have used Vittorio Gassman, for example, and had a truly Italian Leopard?

“Il Gattopardo” (The Leopard) is based on one of the masterpiece of the italian leterature : “Il Gattopardo” Written by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa. He himself a noble, tells the history of his family: the Leopard was is gandfather if I don’t make a mistake. It is a true masterpiece for the style and the story. The end is different. But the meaning is the same.

Best color I've ever seen.

I thought the movie and book is about a man who knows times are moving on without him and rather then fight it he accepts it

Thank you

Just watched this truly remarkable movie. Wonderful commentary provided by you - I fully agree that The Leopard commands respect, but probably not affection by many. We can see that the maker(s) of the movie must have had some love for the (idealized idea of) aristocracy and its aesthetic splendour. I personally don't like the conservative aesthetic exhibited at all. While the portrayal of the Leopard was nuanced and makes the movie a masterpiece, I was disappointed by the portrayal of the Don Calogero, one of the "hyenas and jackals" which follow the aristocrat class of "lions and leopards", who is depicted as a one-dimensional bourgeoise capitalist who reduces the value of everything to capital (economical and political).

Burt Lancaster spoke Italian fluently!

Visconti the director , who was a Marxist in his heyday made this movie to pay homage to the passing of the old order of aristocracy and what a magnificent film it turned out to be. Perhaps his best . And fantastic performances ,especially Burt Lancaster as the Prince . Such movies are to be treasured . I've watched it at least 4 times

Watched The Leopard and The Conformist back to back and realised that The Godfather owes much to both movies

The difficulty with the older movies, literature, expressions, etc., is that they have class and most youth these days, does not. No clue. Quick to respond, but lack of insight. Everything is a double edged sword. Just because something is replaced, that doesn't necessarily make it better. There is progress and there are cycles. I see parallels to what is happening here, now, as we march in lock step towards the Matrix.

The director insisted on having everything real therefore bankrupted the film company so on and so forth and now the film is a National Treasure everything everything in the film is real the walls the chairs the chandeliers the uniforms everything is real the director luchino Visconti insisted upon it

I think The Leopard is the european "Gone with the wind"

You should read the source material by Lampedusa. The movie doesn't come close to the exquisite language. I can't think of any other novel that captures the opulence of that era. There was a veiled allusion to the sadistic vices of the aristocrats (think bdsm) in the book that didn't make it to the movie.

Masterpiece. I watch it once or twice a year. I don't like "doblaje" (don't remember the word in English) but ir was mandatory that Salina and Tacredi should have a perfect and aristocratic italian when they speak. No matter how good Lancaster's or Delon's italian could be, it wouldn't have been good enough.

So it seems that Il Gattopardo asks the question, "Can a leopard change its spots?"

If I'm not mistaken, in the English version Salina is dubbed by Lancaster himself.

Alain Delon !

When will you, english speaking people, translate acuretly the title of this motion pictura ?

The Prince in this movie represents the ideal leader: he knows how to handle power without abusing it, he’s polite but doesn’t allow bs, he makes his opinion clear without being offensive, etc... What I love about this movie is the idea of a man who does (mostly) everything right is willing to stand aside for the next generation to take his place without any fuss. He knows his time is over, he mourns it, and moves on. Also, I don’t see this as a pro-aristocracy film so much as it is pro-decency and common sense. The new government isn’t bad because they took over from the aristocracy and became democratic. A major plot point of the last ballroom sequence is that the army is executing a group of deserters, and no one gives it a second thought. That makes them no better than the former rulers of Sicily.

The waltz

Could you explain the norms of ballroom dancing. Which two can dance. Is it only restricted between Romantic Couples who are in Relationship?

1. how Lancaster completely remodeled his work. he was a master of body language and he is completely a different persona in this film . 2. that bathtub scene. 3. the restored version dubs Lancaster much closer to his natural voice. the travesty has a high voice dubbed for him and it's just execrable. 4. the sort of sneer at the Church that de Salina is an astronomer 5. the look de Salina gives Angelica when he first sees her is Lancaster's typical reaction to seeing his love interest. de Salina is letting Tancredi marry her, not just for money, but because it brings her in his reach for seduction. that will destroy his family just as surely as being overwhelmed by the middle class or destroyed by the Church but being a nobleman, he believes he is entitled to his little pleasures. in 1900 he plays Berlinghieri, who is the Prince at the end of his dissolute life: impotent and suicidal.

Thank you--have you read Lampedusa's novel? While the style of this film may have influenced Coppola, I don't think it's really like The Godfather. Visconti was a socialist, and also a director of opera. He was a master at depicting opulence. At the end, I don't know if you missed the irony--Tancredi has now acquired the wealth (through his marriage to a wealthy heiress) needed to maintain the material status of the Salinas. And he reveals his cynical motives by gloating over the execution of some of his former Garibaldian combrades!

If I’m not mistaken Marlon Brando, Gregory Peck,Spencer Tracy,Laurence Olivier, Anthony Quinn, and Nikolay Cherkasov were nearly the don while Warren Beatty was nearly the nephew.

aristocrat turned communist made the movie about fading aristocratic class, based on the only novel by the elderly sicilian aristocrat. Both did not have a heir.

It's really ironic that THE LEOPARD is such a pro-aristocracy movie, considering how THE DAMNED (which Visconti made 9 years later) is almost the exact inverse: it's message seems to be "The aristocrats are all despots or ineffectual or insane and single-handedly enabling the rise of fascism," and how much Visconti goes out of his way to make those characters as unsympathetic and straight-up despicable as possible. I wonder if all the socio-political strife of the decade (Vietnam, Red Brigades, etc.) flipped his perspective on aristocracy and that's why he made the movie.

I didn’t find the film to be essentially pro-aristocratic. Visconti, though a member of the gentry himself, was also a Marxist who felt great sympathy for the working classes. In the final act, which may be the greatest ever put to film, Visconti does not condone all devious practices of the aristocracy, but the virtuosity of Don Fabrizio and men like him, who did not wish to exploit the people, but merely lead as an exemplar of their faith and culture. It becomes a personal and intimate microcosm of an entire society that would change for good. Fabrizio, after his last dance, finally accepts this as the natural progression of the world, and walks off into the darkness. Visconti, above the gentry and Marx, believed in virtuosity, honor, and common good, and never was it portrayed more beautifully than in this film.

Excellent analysis. Ironically, one of the most pro Aristocracy, pro Catholic films ever made was directed by a Marxist Atheist.

I actually found this movie surprisingly easy to follow. I didn't even know much about the Italian Risorgimento and the historical backdrop the film is set against, and I still really enjoyed it.

Well, maybe your review will help this movie to be known to a few Americans in the NETFLIX time. Unfortunately I'm afraid that after a few minutes they'll switch to the latest NETFLIX disaster like everybody else in the whole world. This was for many years my favorite movie ever. Some months ago I rewatched it (again) and enjoyed it very much but somehow I found it "old". I think it was very political at its time but Europe has changed so much now that all those ideas and ideals are defunct, for the better I think. To be enjoyed as History yes, but who's interested in History if it's told without telling one what to think in the age of fast food ?. NETFLIX understands this. Right now I'd put Visconti's L'Innocente as my top of his films. Sensuous and decadent too but unlike Il Gattopardo a study on personal decadence and amorality rather than in a social class. But then, I happen to find all Visconti's films between good, very good and excellent.

You spend quite a bit of your video apologizing for liking a movie that you presume has a pro-aristocratic slant. If it does portray the prince of Salina positively, it is probably because he is in all but name the great-grandfather of the novel's author, Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, so it was inevitable that he was going to be kind to him. Having said this, no one really gets off lightly in either the movie or, especially, the novel and Tomasi describes the cynical opportunism of ever class and rank of Sicilian / Italian society (best exemplified by the line from the book/movie "everything must change, so that it may remain the same") - something that got him a lot of criticism as a result. But it's interesting that we're so programmed to see some groups as heroes and others as villains today, that when we see one who should be portrayed as a villain, instead shown sympathetically, that we find ourselves apologizing for this.

Sorry. I don't think you understand what this film is about. It is not about the aristocracy. It is about life and legacy. Fundamental human considerations. Interesting to hear your point of view though

Vatican 2 didn't get rid of TLM! In fact it states that it should be preserved, the Judas priests used it to get rid of TLM and some also to stop veiling. The Chuch simply could not stop them all and unfortunately, gave up.

Nothing!

The movie is visually beautiful, but I didn’t connect to it. Lancaster does a great job of portraying a rich alpha male who sees his world slip away, but the other characters seem a bit like window dressing. I later read that neither Alain Delon or Burt Lancaster understood Italian and were speaking in French and English, respectively, during filming. This contributed to what I perceived to be a lack of chemistry between the actors. There are movies that have mediocre sound or lighting, but somehow make an emotional impact. I prefer that to a movie which has better visuals (like Leopard), but less feeling to it. I'm not saying this is a bad movie. It isn't. But it wouldn't be in my Top 100 best.

Better than the Godfather. Perhaps my favourite film. When an aristocrat is given the camera, he creates a painting.

Italian film dubbing is really annoying, as actors who do it do not even try to be close to the way the original actors speak (f.i. an american actor speaking in a low-key, humble way is being dubbed by an italian in a loud way). Actually, italians used ONLY dubbing, even in their own movies, until 1980s! Since dubbing studios were there, they didn't bother recording sound or dialogues on the spot, during shooting - instead, they were dubbing the whole film afterwards! This is obvious even in Fellini's films, for instance.

It's a SLOW., BORING movie. Beautiful to look at it, but a glacier moves more quickly. Better to watch it on Fast-forward!!