A beautiful decor, an epic story and a dream cast what more can you ask for a movie? The great Italian director Luchino Visconti had those three crucial ingredients for his masterpiece: “Il Gattopardo”.
As Garibaldi’s troops begin the unification of Italy in the 1860s, an aristocratic Sicilian family grudgingly adapts to the sweeping social changes undermining their way of life. Proud but pragmatic Prince Don Fabrizio Salina (Burt Lancaster) allows his war hero nephew, Tancredi (Alain Delon), to marry Angelica (Claudia Cardinale), the beautiful daughter of gauche, bourgeois Don Calogero, in order to maintain the family’s accustomed level of comfort and political clout.
Luchino Visconti (“Rocco e i suoi fratelli”, “ Le notti bianche”) vision on the slowly demise of the Italian aristocracy (he was himself a descendant of the Italian aristocracy). After shooting more social movies, Visconti changed style. “Il Gattopardo” is an icredible project that only a true visonairy could have created. His portrayled of the past, the gorgeous decor and the representation of lavish though depressive lifestyle of the aristocry is phenomenal. The famous ball scene is a metaphor for the decadence and the future.
Visconti worked a few years on the film and had a lot of problems with the producers and the American studio. The original film is in Italian but because of budget concern they had to strike a deal with 20th Century-Fox. Visconti needed a world renowned star for the lead role, because the budget was too high. After his first choice the Russian actor Nikolai Cherkasov and English actor Laurence Olivier were not available, he had to accept Burt Lancaster who was chosen by the producers. Even though they had a rocky start they soon became very good friends. Alain Delon and Claudia Cardinale already worked with Visconti and were extraordinary in the roles. Production lasted seven months. The film was an international success except in the US where the studio released the film in a 165-minute (instead of the original 185 minutes) version with inferior colour. The greatest version is the original Italian version.
The film is based on the novel by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa. The book came out in 1958 and was an international bestseller.
The film won the Golden Palm at The Cannes Film Festival.
