Film

What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases

The Leopard (1963)

Director: Luchino Visconti, Goffredo Lombardi

Time Out rating

Average user rating

9 reviews

Movie review

From Time Out London

Is this the most beautiful film ever made? Watching Visconti’s 1963 saga of Sicilian aristocracy swamped by the mid-nineteenth century is like stepping into an old master, where the eye lingers rapturously over folds of velvet and the changing light. Like Lampedusa, the author of the novel, Visconti was born into the nobility, and one senses their empathy with the story’s ruminative Prince, who realises his class is doomed. The writing and Burt Lancaster’s majestic performance add ideological complexity and emotional resonance – orchestrated by fine support including Alain Delon and Claudia Cardinale – but the film’s greatness lies in the way it makes the 1860s live. Visconti’s attention to detail is one element, but there’s something about the grace, squalor, tedium and elegance of the climactic ball sequence which goes beyond filmmaking into embodying a vanished way of life.

Author: Trevor Johnston

Time Out London Issue 2088: August 26 – September 1, 2010

Email Tweet Share

User reviews of this film

jazz said...

Posted on Oct 17 2010 20:05 it was a rainy sunday afternoon when i stumbled upon this review. yes it's annoying when reviews are recycled, but it made me get off the couch and head south into a warm movie theater for three hours of something different. it's slow, but so beautifully filmed that you get to savor each frame.

Report as inappropriate
jaycee said...

Posted on Sep 18 2010 11:40 That ridiculous review below shows up as a review of the DVD on Amazon, cut and pasted to here. Is this going to turn up on every site that reviews movies? It should be taken off. I loved the film, but this review is so over the top and arrogant, it would turn anyone off of it. And, Mr. Khawaja, if there's only you, it's pretty dumb to descibe your own personal, solo opinion as "unanimous"!

Report as inappropriate
Ian said...

Posted on Sep 03 2010 19:10 Ha ha, true. Funnily enough I have just come across a word for word copy on the NY Times website from 2 years ago.

Report as inappropriate
tom huddleston said...

Posted on Sep 01 2010 14:36 Any PR who would employ Usman Khawaja to big up their films would have to be on pretty serious drugs...

Report as inappropriate
Ian said...

Posted on Sep 01 2010 14:21 I presume these long 'reviews' are PR spam from the DVD company. So they should be deleted. They don't form part of a conversation.

Report as inappropriate
John said...

Posted on Sep 01 2010 09:12 Imagine being stuck in a lift with Usman!

Report as inappropriate
Mike said...

Posted on Aug 31 2010 22:56 Very beautiful, and very well attended - by people of a certain age.

Report as inappropriate
tem said...

Posted on Aug 31 2010 00:23 There needs to be a ban on ridiculous reviews that are that long by anonymous people.

Report as inappropriate
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.

Report as inappropriate