| The Leopard (Il Gattopardo) |
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original film poster |
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| Directed by | Luchino Visconti |
| Produced by | Goffredo Lombardo Pietro Notarianni |
| Written by | Pasquale Festa Campanile Enrico Medioli Massimo Franciosa Luchino Visconti Suso Cecchi d'Amico |
| Starring | Burt Lancaster Alain Delon Claudia Cardinale Serge Reggiani Mario Girotti Pierre Clementi |
| Music by | Nino Rota |
| Cinematography | Giuseppe Rotunno |
| Editing by | Mario Serandrei |
| Distributed by | Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation |
| Release date(s) | 28 March 1963 (Italy) 15 July 1963 (U.S.) |
| Running time | 161 Min (US Theatrical Release) 185 Min (US Uncut Version) 195 Min (French Version) 205 Min (Full Version) |
| Country | Italy |
| Language | Italian German |
The Leopard (Italian: Il Gattopardo) is a 1963 Italian film by director Luchino Visconti, based on Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa's novel of the same name.
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The film features an international cast including the American Burt Lancaster, the Frenchman Alain Delon and the Italians Claudia Cardinale and Terence Hill. It is generally seen today in the Italian language version, in which Lancaster's lines are dubbed into Italian by Corrado Gaipa; however, an English dubbed version was also produced at the time, in which Lancaster's own voice is heard. When Visconti was told by producers that they needed to cast a star in order to help to ensure that they'd earn enough money to justify the big budget, Visconti's first choice was one of the Soviet Union's preeminent actors, Nikolai Cherkasov. Learning that Cherkasov was in no condition, healthwise, to take the part, Visconti then set his hopes on getting Laurence Olivier, but he already had another commitment. The producers chose legendary Hollywood star Burt Lancaster without consulting Visconti, which insulted the great director and caused tension on the set; but the director and Hollywood star ended up working well together, and their resulting friendship lasted the rest of their lives.
Alberto Arbasino commented that Visconti's film was a reactionary operation typical of Italy, which stereo-mentalized a good novel to support the foundation of an aceptable literature of the right-wing.[1]
The film has circulated in numerous versions. Visconti's first cut was 205 minutes long, but this was regarded as excessive; he cut it down to 185 minutes for the official release, and regarded this version as his preferred length. The version shown in the English-speaking world was a 161-minute dubbed version edited by 20th Century Fox. A 151-minute version was released in Spain.
There are several DVD editions available.
The original 8-perforation Technirama camera negative for The Leopard survives and was used by The Criterion Collection to create their video master for DVD and Blu-ray, with color timing supervised by the film's cinematographer, Giuseppe Rotunno. New preservation film elements were created using a 4K digital scan of the film, done with the cooperation of the Cineteca di Bologna, L'Immagine Ritrovata, The Film Foundation, Gucci, Pathé, Fondation Jérôme Seydoux-Pathé, Twentieth Century Fox, and Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia-Cineteca Nazionale.[3] This restoration premiered at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival to great fanfare.[4]
Povero Lampedusa! Ha scritto un bel romanzo ed è stato trasformato in un cattivo maestro: come Proust, quando la sua tormentosa autocoscienza critica viene scambiata per una sentimentale, estenuata rèverie. Così Il Gattopardo; subito assunto come simbolo e insegna di una delle solite operazione reazionarie all'italiana: alla Respighi, alla De Chirico, alla Bava Beccaris alla Bava Beccaris o alla Gigliola Cinquetti. O diciamo pure alla Bassani-Visconti. Il Gattopardo è stato insomma adoperato per avallare la fondazione d'una destra letteraria dopotutto dignitosa e presentabile: cioè coerente d'idee, al corrente col gusto, non filistea, non fascista, non qualunquista, non analfabeta, formalmente corretta, educata su buoni modelli e nutrita d'opportuni richiami alla Tradizione Nazionale. E il regno del Tempo Perduto, il suo ciambellano è la memoria, la sua ideologia lo status quo. Tutto molto seducente, riposante, sicuro, morto. Reazionario? Certamente. Ma non perché naufraghi tra le urne e le ceneri voltando le spalle all'oggi e ai vivi, piuttosto perché non tenta neppure d'indagare il senso del passato per intendere meglio il presente. E una resa estetizzante e acritica alle ragioni dell'Immutabile. Questa cultura neo-conservatrice non poteva, in fondo, augurarsi un manifesto ideologico e poetico più utile del Gattopardo, come romanzo e come film. Mette d'accordo letterati tradizionali e signore à la page, antiquari, principesse, principesse, snob, sarte, modiste, Togliatti e Malagodi, come quando si difendeva la monarchia, nel 1943.
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