The Leopard
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“We were the leopards, the lions, those who take our place will be jackals and sheep”
Overview
Widely regarded as one of the greatest films of all time, The Leopard is a historical epic of the grandest kind, portraying the fall of 19th century Sicilian aristocracy with immense scale, staggering detail and potent pathos. Burt Lancaster stars as the ageing Don Fabrizio Corbera, Prince of Salina, who is caught up in the sociopolitical upheaval of the Risorgimento (Italian Unification) with Alain Delon as his opportunistic nephew Tancredi. When Tancredi vows to marry Angelica (Claudia Cardinale), daughter of the powerful Don Calogero Sedara of the nationalist movement, Corbera supports him with a bittersweet resign, realising he has no place in the new world of modernity.
Why You Should See This Film
Taking home the Palme D'Or at Cannes in 1963 and favourited by the likes of Martin Scorsese and Sydney Pollack, The Leopard is an extraordinary work of cinema that lives up to all its accolades. Adapting the Stega prize-winning novel by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, Luchino Visconti translates complicated historical politics with cinematic grace; constructing unforgettable moments with the great cinematographer Giuseppe Rotunno and production designer Mario Garbuglia and composer Nino Rota that speak volumes without words about the fertile opportunity and aching loss of change. Beyond beauty and spectacle, what makes The Leopard so emotionally resonant over 60 years on its tremendously rich character study of the prince, the vigour and anguish of Burt Lancaster’s performance and Visconti’s unmatched direction.
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