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The Movie
The simple act of watching a film
like The Leopard (Il Gattopardo) becomes one of
those mesmerizing cinematic experiences that haunts and enriches the viewer from
beginning to end. Based on the novel by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, the film
is everything one thinks of when the term "epic" is bandied about: beautifully
shot (with some of the most sumptuous cinematography ever presented onscreen),
overflowing with opulence and grandeur, populated with colorful, charismatic
characters, set in a romanticized time period that no longer exists, and with a
running time slightly over three-hours during which director Luchino Visconti
skillfully handles the scope and sweep of Lampedusa's novel.
The film takes place during the heart of the Italian
Risorgimento, a time of nineteenth-century social upheaval in which the Italian states rebelled against
the existing aristocratic order to form a unified and democratic Italy.
Burt Lancaster plays Don Fabrizio, the proud yet aging Prince of Salina, emblematic
of the old society and yet fully aware that his way-of-life is
slowly fading into oblivion. His nephew Tancredi (Alain Delon) fights for Garibaldi
and the rebellious factions, yet his motives aren't entirely altruistic. He believes
in the cause, perhaps, but he also does what will keep him "on
top" of whatever society emerges. He represents the changing face of Italy, the
transition between aristocracy and democracy, but his self-serving machinations
are indicative of the egocentric elements that drive the shift in power
structures.
Don Fabrizio, all too aware of this, arranges a marriage for Tancredi with Angelica Sedara
(Claudia Cardinale), the jaw-droppingly ravishing daughter of Don Calogero
Sedara, a scheming "up-and-comer" in the new regime. The marriage is certainly
political in nature, an old-fashioned consolidation of power in order to
keep the "right" people in positions of power. Contrasting with the youthful flirtations
between Tancredi and Angelica is the loveless marriage between Don Fabrizio
and his own wife, a marriage of manners, appearances, and duty that
is entirely without passion and life. Fabrizio remarks to his priest
how he has had numerous children with the woman, yet has yet to see her
navel. This is of course a rather bawdy assertion, especially to a clergyman, yet indicative of
the stilted emptiness of their mannered relationship. Yet when Don Fabrizio first
lays eyes on Angelica, it's too obvious that in her he sees the type of
woman that he should have been with. Angelica is utterly beautiful, yet she is
warm, graceful, elegant, and passionate. A symbol of an age past and a dying
era, transitioning into a new and uncertain time in which the traditional ways
must make way for new, more liberal and uncertain ideals.
The Leopard won the coveted Golden Palm at the Cannes
Film Festival in its year of submission, but the film was met with popular
indifference when it was released in the United States. Cut by nearly
half-an-hour in running time and mostly redubbed into English (Burt Lancaster's
dub was his actual voice), the film failed to resonate with viewers. Certainly a
case could have been made to market The Leopard as a new "Gone With The
Wind"-styled epic. The films are, on the surface, pretty similar: they take
place during the same time, during a period of social and political upheaval,
and are expensive, sweeping epic films that featuring staggering scenes of
cinematic wonderment. But perhaps the Italian setting and intricate subtleties
of Visconti's film seemed too distant for American viewers. Regadless, The
Leopard is a magnificent motion picture that doesn't come up as often as it
should when people discuss the great cinematic epics of all time. The Criterion
DVD will hopefully change the grievous oversight, as its beautiful presentation
of the film and copious amount of supplemental material presents an irresistible
package for cinema lovers.
The DVD
The Leopard comes in a mammoth three-disc special edition,
providing for a host of goodies for the discriminating fans of Visconti's
epic.
Video:
The Leopard is presented in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 2.21:1, and has
been anamorphically enhanced for your widescreen-viewing happiness. All I can say about
this transfer is: Wow. What a gorgeous looking film, meticulously
restored and beautifully transferred by the wizards at Criterion. Giuseppe Rotunno, the film's original
director of photography, supervised the new transfer as well. In any regard, the film
looks absolutely luminous. Colors are rich and vibrant, with fine chromatic
spread, natural looking flesh tones, and deep blacks. The picture sports a reasonably
detailed image, although fine image detail is slightly lacking (and certainly understandable for
a forty-year-old film.) This three-hour movie is housed on a single dual-layered
DVD, but I noticed no instances of compression noise or pixellation. Other than
few scenes that display some very minor speckling, the print is remarkably clean, resulting
in a smooth, stable, beautifully rendered picture.
Audio:
The audio is presented in
Dolby Digital 1.0,
and as such presents a fine if inherently limited audio experience. Dialog
levels sound somewhat reasonable if a little "boxy", and the score, while
definitely lacking in range, remains faithful and peppy. There are no discernable
noises, hiss, distortions, and pops on the soundtrack. Overall, the soundtrack is
satisfactory and pleasant. Sure some six-channel bombast would have
been extremely welcome, especially during the ball or battle scenes, but
here we have it as it was originally heard, and the result
is quite acceptable.
Extras:
Disc
One
Well here we are, it's
a day that ends with a "y", which means we have another Criterion disc with a Peter
Cowie commentary track... which in itself is a very good thing,
as his are always enjoyable and informative, and his work on The Leopard
is no exception. Cowie talks animatedly and at-length throughout the film's
three-hour running time, providing background information about the film, its cast and crew,
and on-screen analysis throughout. It's a thorough and informative
commentary, well worth a listen for fans.
Disc
Two
Disc Two has the bulk of the
extras. We start out with A Dying Breed: The Making of The
Leopard, a series of interviews collected by Criterion throughout
2003 featuring the surviving major participants involved with the film. The
feature runs over an hour, and includes interviews with Claudia Cardinale (who,
in her sixties, still looks lovelier than ever), screenwriters Enrico
Medioli and Suso Cecchi D'Amico, Gioachhino Lanza Tomasi di Lampedusa (son of
the author), art director Mario Garbuglia, director of photography Giuseppe Rotunno, costume designer Piero
Tosi, and film director Sidney Pollack. This is the interview for fans that
want to go deeper into the film's production, featuring
many who were there to witness it.
The extras continue with a
Geoffredo Lombardo interview, the film's producer whose
production company was bankrupted by the extravagances of The Leopard.
The interview lasts almost twenty-minutes, in which the producer (who was also
involved in Visconti's Rocco and His Brothers and Ermanno Olmi's
magnificent I Fidanzati) discusses his involvement with The
Leopard. The history of the Risorgimento is a
fourteen-minute video interview with Millicent Marcus, a professor of Italian
Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, as she discusses the real history and
personalities responsible for the creation of a unified Italy. For history buffs
and Leopard
fans,
this is a worthwhile and enriching extra.
The Promotional
materials section contains a wealth of extras that were used to promote
the film, including a stills gallery, Italian newsreels, the
Italian trailer, and two American trailers
.
Disc
Three
The "extra" on Disc Three is the
feature-length American version of the film. This edit is
missing twenty-six minutes of footage from the Italian cut, and features an English-language soundtrack, with Burt Lancaster's and Leslie French providing their own
voices. As the supplements point out, the film was not well recieved at
all, and the original Italian edit of the film was not seen in North America
until a re-release twenty years later. Naturally, the film must be seen in
its original Italian form, for a variety of reasons. For starters, the transfer on
the American version isn't as impressive as the Italian cut. While it has
been restored by Criterion, it still doesn't present as clean and sharp a picture as
the original, and there is some discernable hiss on the soundtrack. With nearly
a half-hour of missing footage, the American version also
loses out in terms of content and story. However, this piece makes an excellent study in contrast
to the original. While I don't think it's horrible by any means, one
is only shortchanging him- or herself by watching the
American version of the original Italian cut.
Final
Thoughts
Can we talk some more Claudia
Cardinale for a second? When one talks about the most luminous screen beauties
of all time, Claudia has to be an inevitable selection into at least the Top
Five. A ferociously attractive woman, she set the screen ablaze in the 1960s
with notable starring roles in 8 1/2, The Pink Panther, and
Once Upon A Time In The West. With her dark eyes, olive complexion,
voluptuously curvy figure and stunning visage, Cardinale is one of those women
who were simply made to be adored on the silver screen.
While she alone would be reason enough to recommend The
Leopard, there's so much more substance here to enjoy and experience.
The film alone would be enough; a cinematic masterpiece, The Leopard
remains one of the most enthralling and enjoyable movies ever filmed.
There's so much to absorb and feast upon, a visually sumptuous delight which
serves as a cinematic banquet. Yet the film is also subtle and understated,
speaking volumes with a little more than a blink of an eyelid, a longing stare,
or a cryptic line of dialog. The Leopard is the type of movie that
rewards multiple viewings, as there is so much going on that a repeat viewing
yields additional rewards (in reviewing this DVD, I had to watch the film
three times, and got something more from it with each additional
review.)
But it is Criterion's loving restoration work and exhaustive bonus material
that make The Leopard such a must-have DVD. The movie has never looked better, presenting Visconti's epic
masterpiece with a vibrant, striking transfer that brings the film
to life in a way few have ever seen before. Throw in a fascinating commentary track, a
second disc devoted to nearly two hours worth of bonus material, and a
third disc containing an American edit of the film, and we end up with one
of the most meticulously informative and entertaining DVD sets of a classic film
ever produced. The Leopard might be a bit pricier that other DVDs of
its kind, but it is truly worth the price of entry. |
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