The Leopard

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Synopsis

Making its long-awaited U.S. home video debut, Luchino Visconti’s The Leopard (Il Gattopardo) is an epic on the grandest possible scale. The film recreates, with nostalgia, drama, and opulence, the tumultuous years of Italy’s Risorgimento—when the aristocracy lost its grip and the middle classes rose and formed a unified, democratic Italy. Burt Lancaster stars as the aging prince watching his culture and fortune wane in the face of a new generation, represented by his upstart nephew (Alain Delon) and his beautiful fiancée (Claudia Cardinale). Awarded the Palme d’Or at the 1963 Cannes Film Festival, The Leopard translates Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa’s novel, and the history it recounts, into a truly cinematic masterpiece. The Criterion Collection is proud to present the film in two distinct versions: Visconti’s original Italian version, and the alternate English-language version released in America in a newly restored special edition.

Picture 7/10

Criterion’s three-disc set for Luchino Visconti’s The Leopard presented the film on home video for the first time in North America, and even presented it in the original, uncut Italian version. The film is contained on the first dual-layer disc and is displayed in its original aspect ratio of 2.21:1 and has been enhanced for widescreen televisions.

The transfer looked great at the time but it now shows its age, and its problems are even more obvious after viewing Criterion’s new Blu-ray edition. The print used is in fantastic shape, with only some minor bits of debris and a couple instances of colour separation present, and colours as a whole do look about as perfect as they’re likely to get.

The transfer does look a little noisy, though, possibly because it was unable to properly handle the film grain. Edge-enhancement and halos are visible through a good chunk of the film, though they are at least minor. Still, detail and clarity is rather good, and the image doesn’t appear to go soft.

It’s been bettered since but at the time I was thrilled with it, feeling especially spoiled since so much care went into it for its home video debut.

Audio 6/10

The Dolby Digital 1.0 mono track is okay, a step above most Italian tracks. It still looks to have been looped post production, like most Italian films seem to be, but synching isn’t a huge issue, even the dubbing over Lancaster and Delon isn’t too bad, who both spoke English and French respectively. But it can sound a little flat and music does sound distorted and edgy from time to time. Nothing spectacular but it still sounds decent enough.

Extras 8/10

Most would have probably been happy if Fox just released a simple film-only edition but Criterion went all out with this set, giving as comprehensive a release as possible, spreading the supplements over three dual-layer discs.

The first disc is devoted to the film and the only feature present on the disc is a screen-specific audio commentary by Peter Cowie. I think Cowie’s commentaries are hit-and-miss with people but I’ve generally liked them and always look forward to them. This one on the other hand is simply okay, and revisiting it again recently hasn’t changed my opinion much. I think one of the issues is that Cowie does strain to fill the three-hours, though admirably he does leave very little in the way of dead space. He fills the track with a lot of comparisons to the source novel, even quoting from it frequently, though this does have its uses: One issue many have with their first viewing of the film is that some actions and sequences aren’t clear at first and Cowie referencing the novel does clear up a couple of things. On top of this he also talks in great detail about Visconti, Lancaster, Delon, and Cardinale, along with other actors in the film, gets into the technical details of certain sequences, specifically the final ball sequence, and also places the film in its historical context (though another supplement on this set does better in that regard.) He also expands on some of the themes presented in the film, the politics that exist, and also offers the views of the author and the director and how they show through in the novel and/or film. It’s good overall, very informative, but does feel to be padded a bit. Still, this was certainly not an easy feat and Cowie does his best and at the very least keeps it interesting.

The second disc present a bulk of the remaining features.

First up on the disc is the making-of documentary A Dying Breed: The Making of The Leopard, made in 2003 for this DVD. In it we get interviews with many of those involved in the production, including director Sydney Pollack (who worked on the American version), actress Claudia Cardinale, screen writers Enrico Medioli and Suso Cecchi D’Amico, Gioacchino Lanza Tomassi di Lampedusa (son of the book’s author, Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa,) art director Mario Garbuglia, cinematographer Giuseppe Rotunno, and costume designer Piero Tosi. Running about 61-minutes it’s a pretty standard talking heads documentary, but no less fascinating, giving a timeline on the production and getting into detail about the various aspects of it, including sets and costumes. The writers talk about the ordeal of having to adapt the novel, and also explain the decision on cutting out the last two parts of the book (which Cowie also talks about in the commentary.) There’s also a little bit of information about the American version and how it came about, Pollack getting into detail as to why it didn’t work (Lancaster’s American accent probably being one of the many key reasons.) Criterion went around and gathered these interviews over the course of a year and it was well worth it, giving us a rather thorough and engrossing making-of.

Moving on the next supplement is a 20-minute interview with producer Goffredo Lombardo, who was the producer for The Leopard, which was made for another DVD release. In it he talks about how the production came to be, getting Visconti to meet Lancaster (this director having no interest in the actor, considering him a “cowboy”,) and Visconti’s attention to detail, which did drive up the price of the production, eventually bankrupting Lombardo’s production company, Titanus Films. He mentions Fox president Daryl Zanuck’s reactions to the dailies, which he laughs off (his reactions weren’t good we’ll say,) talks about the chances of a sequel, and even talks about the advantages of DVD (digital formats in general.) He’s proud of the film and it shows and he makes a great interview subject. Some material is repeated here but it’s still worthwhile in viewing.

The next feature is one some may want to view before watching the film (though it does contain spoilers) since the history presented in the film is fairly confusing and it does help in clearing up a few scenes in the film since most everything involving the conflict within the film happens off screen and is only mentioned by characters throughout. Entitled The History of the Risorgimento and running 14-minutes, Millicent Marcus walks us through Italy’s history including its separation and then the revolution that worked to bring it back together. She clarifies some scenes in the film and points out the time period they would have taken place in. I’ve always been happy with this one (which was available on the original DVD) because, despite being a history buff, my knowledge of Italian history is incredibly slim. Certainly required viewing for those unfamiliar with the subject matter.

Criterion then packs together a number of promotional materials, including posters from all over the world (gotta love the Polish ones,) Italian newsreel footage running over 3-minutes, presenting footage from awards ceremonies, an Italian theatrical trailer, the American trailer, and then an American teaser. Criterion also includes a fairly big photo gallery presenting production photos and some behind-the-scenes snapshots. It’s been divided into 4 sections.

The third disc in the set then presents American Version of The Leopard, which runs about 24-minutes shorter at 161-minutes and is in English. This is a rather interesting inclusion, though one that’s not necessary to view. It cuts out quite a bit (one big notable scene that was excised is the card game between the Prince, his nephew, friend, and Cavaliere Chevellay) but does actually work to “better explain” some sequences, like the scene where Delon’s Tancredi pays a visit to Angelica; in the Italian version it’s not exactly clear what is going on but in the American version you hear a voice over from Lancaster that basically spells it out for you.

Presented in the aspect ratio of 2.35:1 and enhanced for widescreen televisions Criterion has chosen not to restore the image. Damage is heavy, it can look faded, and artifacts are plentiful. It looks rather bad and this was a little disappointing at first, but then chances are most won’t watch it again; it isn’t great and the Italian version is much better. Again an interesting version but not required viewing (this transfer was ported and upscaled over to the Blu-ray edition so it doesn’t look any better on that set.)

Criterion then includes an insert that presents an essay written by Michael Wood going over the film, the book, and the history presented.

Though I would say one could skip the commentary and just watch the other supplements, as a whole Criterion presents a great set of supplements, offering an in-depth look into the film and the history it presents.

Closing

The transfer shows its problems more now but it still looks pretty good overall; I think most were just thrilled to finally get the film on home video (but the Blu-ray clearly blows it away now.) Still, it’s an excellent edition, one of Criterion’s best on the format. Comes with a high recommendation.

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Directed by: Luchino Visconti
Year: 1963
Time: 185 | 161 min.
 
Series: The Criterion Collection
Edition #: 235
Licensor: 20th Century Fox
Release Date: June 08 2004
MSRP: $49.95
 
DVD
3 Discs | DVD-9
2.20:1 ratio
 (Anamorphic)
2.35:1 ratio
 (Anamorphic)
English 1.0 Dolby Digital Mono
Italian 1.0 Dolby Digital Mono
Subtitles: English
Region 1
 
 The 161-minute American release, with English-language dialogue, including Burt Lancaster’s own voice   Audio commentary by film scholar Peter Cowie   A Dying Breed: The Making of The Leopard, an hour-long documentary featuring interviews with Claudia Cardinale, screenwriter Suso Cecchi D’Amico, Rotunno, filmmaker Sydney Pollack, and many others   Video interview with producer Goffredo Lombardo   Video interview with professor Millicent Marcus on the history behind The Leopard   Original theatrical trailers and newsreels   Insert featuring a new essay by film historian Michael Wood