Film

User reviews of this film

• Technoguy said...

  Posted on Dec 16 2008 15:12 The Leopard was thought the greatest novel of the century by William Golding.
  The part of Don Fabrizio ,the Prince of Salinas, was originally ear-marked for
  Olivier or even Brando by Visconti. The Fox studio only agreed to make it if Burt
  Lancaster was given the role. Reportedly Visconti called him a ’gangster’ and
  treated him harshly, but they were to become lifelong friends. Now nobody
  else could have done justice to the role. Lampedusa was recalling a world of
  lost content, his aristocratic childhood. The Palermo palace he lived in as a child
  had been destroyed by American bombing in the second world war and the
  family’s country villa was reduced to rubble by an earthquake. Feelings of nostalgia
  produced the novel based on his great- grandfather’s world, a world that is depicted as
  passing with the rise of the movement of unification and democracy under
  Garibaldi and the constitutional monarchy of Victor Emmanuelle in the 1860s.
  The Leopard of the title is depicted on the prince’s coat of arms but also refers
  to aristocrats living in their lost paradises as lions and leopards who in their passing
  are to be replaced by jackals and hyenas. Sicily is depicted as a land of perfection
  suffering successive waves of invasion, the invaders all being absorbed(Greeks,
  Spanish, Arabs and Normans).Don Fabrizio himself is based on Lampedusa,
  who Lancaster captured in his portrayal.
  The film starts magnificently with the storming of Palermo by Garibaldi’s army.
  The injection of action vigorously displays the period of the Risorgimento with
  an epic sweep setting up the extravagant and grandiose style to come. We see
  the Prince(Lancaster)shaving and looming up in his mirror, his nephew, Tancredi
  (Delon) saying he is going to join the rebellion with his uncle’s blessing. We see
  here how Tancredi’s allegiances shift like the wind as he always wants to come out on top. His credo like his uncle’s is: “Things will have to change in order that they remain the same”. This becomes like a coat of arms prefiguring a survival plan.
  The middle section shows the trip to their hilltop estate in the village of Donnafugata.
  The family are seen being made welcome by the mayor, Don Calogero, and with
  the dust of their journey on them they go straight into Mass. The scene where they
  are in their pews cubicles and the camera traverses the whole family’s dusty faces
  reveals them as the relics of an outworn system. Calogero, the nouveau-riche mayor
  is a self-made entrepreneur of peasant stock. He comes to the Prince’s residence
  awkwardly in top and tails but he produces the jewel of his daughter, Angelica
  (Cardinale) who arrives in the main room like a vision of the future. Her and Tancredi
  immediately bond and are soon engaged through the manipulations of the Prince. Don
  Fabrizio knows he must sacrifice his own shy daughter, Conchetta, to engender the
  continuation of his lineage. He also sees in Tancredi an image of his youth but
  without the loveless marriage he has known. Asked by an ambassador to become
  a senator he puts forward the name of Don Calogero instead. He knows his time has passed. They need someone who can unite private wishes with vague public ideals.
  In the last part of the film there is the magnificent ballroom sequence where we truly
  get the changing of the guard. The Prince is a pale shadow shown to be a marginal
  figure. He rises to his former majesty one last time in a waltz with Angelica, a concession of defeat. He then walks home alone instead of getting a carriage.
  What is noticeable in a film in which nothing much seems to happen is revised with
  further viewings knowing the historical background and political changes. Lancaster
  is the fulcrum of power and dignity that controls and unites the film, suggesting physical presence and animal grace, also a sense of melancholy, mortality and
  resigned nobility with the passing of his feudal class. There is an opulent splendour in
  the sets and locations, an eye for painstaking detail. The cinematography is a vivid
  mixture of bright, dusty exteriors and chiaroscuro interiors, combined with Rota’s
  lush music and Visconti’s painterly compostions and theatrical framing. The film,
  preferably the Italian version with subtitles, is a masterclass in turning great novels
  into great films.
  The Leopard was thought the greatest novel of the century by William Golding.
  The part of Don Fabrizio ,the Prince of Salinas, was originally ear-marked for
  Olivier or even Brando by Visconti. The Fox studio only agreed to make it if Burt
  Lancaster was given the role. Reportedly Visconti called him a ’gangster’ and
  treated him harshly, but they were to become lifelong friends. Now nobody
  else could have done justice to the role. Lampedusa was recalling a world of
  lost content, his aristocratic childhood. The Palermo palace he lived in as a child
  had been destroyed by American bombing in the second world war and the
  family’s country villa was reduced to rubble by an earthquake. Feelings of nostalgia
  produced the novel based on his great- grandfather’s world, a world that is depicted as
  passing with the rise of the movement of unification and democracy under
  Garibaldi and the constitutional monarchy of Victor Emmanuelle in the 1860s.
  The Leopard of the title is depicted on the prince’s coat of arms but also refers
  to aristocrats living in their lost paradises as lions and leopards who in their passing
  are to be replaced by jackals and hyenas. Sicily is depicted as a land of perfection
  suffering successive waves of invasion, the invaders all being absorbed(Greeks,
  Spanish, Arabs and Normans).Don Fabrizio himself is based on Lampedusa,
  who Lancaster captured in his portrayal.
  The film starts magnificently with the storming of Palermo by Garibaldi’s army.
  The injection of action vigorously displays the period of the Risorgimento with
  an epic sweep setting up the extravagant and grandiose style to come. We see
  the Prince(Lancaster)shaving and looming up in his mirror, his nephew, Tancredi
  (Delon) saying he is going to join the rebellion with his uncle’s blessing. We see
  here how Tancredi’s allegiances shift like the wind as he always wants to come out on top. His credo like his uncle’s is: “Things will have to change in order that they remain the same”. This becomes like a coat of arms prefiguring a survival plan.
  The middle section shows the trip to their hilltop estate in the village of Donnafugata.
  The family are seen being made welcome by the mayor, Don Calogero, and with
  the dust of their journey on them they go straight into Mass. The scene where they
  are in their pews cubicles and the camera traverses the whole family’s dusty faces
  reveals them as the relics of an outworn system. Calogero, the nouveau-riche mayor
  is a self-made entrepreneur of peasant stock. He comes to the Prince’s residence
  awkwardly in top and tails but he produces the jewel of his daughter, Angelica
  (Cardinale) who arrives in the main room like a vision of the future. Her and Tancredi
  immediately bond and are soon engaged through the manipulations of the Prince. Don
  Fabrizio knows he must sacrifice his own shy daughter, Conchetta, to engender the
  continuation of his lineage. He also sees in Tancredi an image of his youth but
  without the loveless marriage he has known. Asked by an ambassador to become
  a senator he puts forward the name of Don Calogero instead. He knows his time has passed. They need someone who can unite private wishes with vague public ideals.
  In the last part of the film there is the magnificent ballroom sequence where we truly
  get the changing of the guard. The Prince is a pale shadow shown to be a marginal
  figure. He rises to his former majesty one last time in a waltz with Angelica, a concession of defeat. He then walks home alone instead of getting a carriage.
  What is noticeable in a film in which nothing much seems to happen is revised with
  further viewings knowing the historical background and political changes. Lancaster
  is the fulcrum of power and dignity that controls and unites the film, suggesting physical presence and animal grace, also a sense of melancholy, mortality and
  resigned nobility with the passing of his feudal class. There is an opulent splendour in
  the sets and locations, an eye for painstaking detail. The cinematography is a vivid
  mixture of bright, dusty exteriors and chiaroscuro interiors, combined with Rota’s
  lush music and Visconti’s painterly compostions and theatrical framing. The film,
  preferably the Italian version with subtitles, is a masterclass in turning great novels
  into great films.
  The Leopard was thought the greatest novel of the century by William Golding.
  The part of Don Fabrizio ,the Prince of Salinas, was originally ear-marked for
  Olivier or even Brando by Visconti. The Fox studio only agreed to make it if Burt
  Lancaster was given the role. Reportedly Visconti called him a ’gangster’ and
  treated him harshly, but they were to become lifelong friends. Now nobody
  else could have done justice to the role. Lampedusa was recalling a world of
  lost content, his aristocratic childhood. The Palermo palace he lived in as a child
  had been destroyed by American bombing in the second world war and the
  family’s country villa was reduced to rubble by an earthquake. Feelings of nostalgia
  produced the novel based on his great- grandfather’s world, a world that is depicted as
  passing with the rise of the movement of unification and democracy under
  Garibaldi and the constitutional monarchy of Victor Emmanuelle in the 1860s.
  The Leopard of the title is depicted on the prince’s coat of arms but also refers
  to aristocrats living in their lost paradises as lions and leopards who in their passing
  are to be replaced by jackals and hyenas. Sicily is depicted as a land of perfection
  suffering successive waves of invasion, the invaders all being absorbed(Greeks,
  Spanish, Arabs and Normans).Don Fabrizio himself is based on Lampedusa,
  who Lancaster captured in his portrayal.
  The film starts magnificently with the storming of Palermo by Garibaldi’s army.
  The injection of action vigorously displays the period of the Risorgimento with
  an epic sweep setting up the extravagant and grandiose style to come. We see
  the Prince(Lancaster)shaving and looming up in his mirror, his nephew, Tancredi
  (Delon) saying he is going to join the rebellion with his uncle’s blessing. We see
  here how Tancredi’s allegiances shift like the wind as he always wants to come out on top. His credo like his uncle’s is: “Things will have to change in order that they remain the same”. This becomes like a coat of arms prefiguring a survival plan.
  The middle section shows the trip to their hilltop estate in the village of Donnafugata.
  The family are seen being made welcome by the mayor, Don Calogero, and with
  the dust of their journey on them they go straight into Mass. The scene where they
  are in their pews cubicles and the camera traverses the whole family’s dusty faces
  reveals them as the relics of an outworn system. Calogero, the nouveau-riche mayor
  is a self-made entrepreneur of peasant stock. He comes to the Prince’s residence
  awkwardly in top and tails but he produces the jewel of his daughter, Angelica
  (Cardinale) who arrives in the main room like a vision of the future. Her and Tancredi
  immediately bond and are soon engaged through the manipulations of the Prince. Don
  Fabrizio knows he must sacrifice his own shy daughter, Conchetta, to engender the
  continuation of his lineage. He also sees in Tancredi an image of his youth but
  without the loveless marriage he has known. Asked by an ambassador to become
  a senator he puts forward the name of Don Calogero instead. He knows his time has passed. They need someone who can unite private wishes with vague public ideals.
  In the last part of the film there is the magnificent ballroom sequence where we truly
  get the changing of the guard. The Prince is a pale shadow shown to be a marginal
  figure. He rises to his former majesty one last time in a waltz with Angelica, a concession of defeat. He then walks home alone instead of getting a carriage.
  What is noticeable in a film in which nothing much seems to happen is revised with
  further viewings knowing the historical background and political changes. Lancaster
  is the fulcrum of power and dignity that controls and unites the film, suggesting physical presence and animal grace, also a sense of melancholy, mortality and
  resigned nobility with the passing of his feudal class. There is an opulent splendour in
  the sets and locations, an eye for painstaking detail. The cinematography is a vivid
  mixture of bright, dusty exteriors and chiaroscuro interiors, combined with Rota’s
  lush music and Visconti’s painterly compostions and theatrical framing. The film,
  preferably the Italian version with subtitles, is a masterclass in turning great novels
  into great films.

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• usman khawaja said...

  Posted on Sep 17 2008 19:30 the greatest cinematic vision ever by visconti-If i had to chose one movie as representing the greatest western movie of all times this will definitely be my unanimous choice .
  it discusses state,religion and the ordinary people in the guise of the Garribaldi rebellion in Sicily but is a very true account of the human existence since beginning of time.
  The essence of the theme is that something has to change for nothing to change in entirety ,in this case it is the aristrocratic order being disguised as a political regime by the italian intervention .
  Burt Lancaster is the wise prince who represents the aristocracy and the state with Alain Delon as his impoverished nephew who is obliged to marry the daughter of an upstart politician who represents the nouveau rich new order.
  Claudia Cardinale is magical as the daughter who realises she is only a pawn in the game but has to convince her self with lies about being in true love with Delon ,their relationship is kept deliberately low-key and mysterious and you keep wondering if they are in love or just in a charade.
  The celebrated waltz and dinner in the Palermo palace of a sicilian princess is the focal point where all the socio-political issues and the class differences are beautifully exploited by visconti in the most memorable sequence lasting almost 30 minutes -the ballroom sequence is filmed as an epic which is only equalled by the scene from russian version of war and peace .
  The individual waltz between burt and claudia is magnificently filmed and can be seen as many times as you want like all great art.
  The same is true for the lavish production and magnificent visuals as well as the perfect musical score .
  The locales include the magical sicilian vistas with it's ancient hills ,vineyards and mansions and the decor looks immaculate in every detail.
  Ultimately visconti suceeds in making that perfect masterpiece where style and content amalgamate in unison to create a unique and great piece of art.
  The movie neither preaches nor corrects it's flawed characters who are all imperfect human beings but just observes humanity as it streams past in it's everyday struggle for existence in it's imperfection but inevitable course ,it is not concerned with good or evil but rather with the ground reality of humanity and the vision becomes universal in it's wisdom .
  A movie for all times and ages with burt lancaster giving his best performance ever and the same is true about Alain delon too,as for claudia she was born to play the sicilian beauty who is most desired and yet a very lonely woman at heart .
  The dvd has no english soundtrack and it is best seen with english subtitles as it is meant to be and there are numerous special features including a featurette on making ,a feature on the creation of the great musical score by nino rota as well as an italian booklet on the movie itaself .
  The 2-dvd set also has the footage from the Cannes festival where Gina lolo gives the palme dor to visconti.
  There are lots of other trivia scrammed in the 2 dvds -some with and some without english subtitles .
  An essential dvd for everyone who likes great cinema .

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• Technoguy said...

  Posted on Feb 29 2008 11:42 Lampedusa's masterpiece of the fading Sicilian aristocracy was beautifully rendered by Visconti with the best performance Lancaster ever gave.He moves with animal grace and majesty. Delon and Cardinale provide superb support.

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