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The Leopard



Luchino Visconti's The Leopard (Il gattopardo), based on Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa's best-selling novel, must surely rate as one of the most sumptuously beautiful epics ever made. The complete and uncut version of the film is released for the first time in the UK on DVD and VHS by BFI Video in collaboration with Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, Inc.

This release boasts a stunning high definition digital transfer from the film's original 70mm negative materials, with fully restored image and sound, overseen by director of photography Giuseppe Rotunno, and is presented in its original widescreen aspect ratio.

Set in 1860-62, during the turbulent period of Italian unification, The Leopard tells the story of an aristocratic Sicilian family threatened by the political upheavals. Burt Lancaster excels as the ageing Prince of Salina whose beloved nephew Tancredi (Alain Delon) goes off to fight with Garibaldi's revolutionary 'Thousand' and on his return falls in love with Angelica (Claudia Cardinale), the beautiful daughter of an up-and-coming merchant.

This gorgeous evocation of an era, filmed on location in Sicily, is stunningly photographed, designed and costumed, with a rousing score by Nino Rota. It glitters with superb set pieces, culminating in the 45-minute ballroom scene where we can see and feel a society in transition.

When the BFI re-released The Leopard theatrically in spring 2003, it achieved the most successful opening weekend of any BFI release and entered the UK Box Office Top 10 on just five prints.

DVD Extras:
- Feature commentary by David Forgacs, Professor of Italian and Head of the Department of Italian, University College London and Rossana Capitano, Visual Arts Department, Goldsmiths, University of London
- Interview with Claudia Cardinale
- Original trailer
- Biography of Luchino Visconti
- Subtitles for the hearing-impaired
- Sleevenotes by David Forgacs

Blu-ray Extras:
Extras
- Full-feature commentary by David Forgacs and Rossana Capitano
- Interview with Claudia Cardinale
- Italian Trailer
- Illustrated colour booklet containing newly commissioned essays
- PCM mono audio (48k/16-bit)

Don Lope de Aguirre wrote:The Leopard

Screening this week in Sydney, Australia at Art Gallery of NSW! Wed 6pm, Sun 1:30pm. Free!

I have this on pre-order... Ages to go yet!

apparently, the Bluray is an HMV exclusive, and released today in the UK. Anyone getting it? What is on it?

yes, please do tel; I'm all the way over in Australia, and if the transfer is halfway decent, I'll be importing; so plz advise if its 1080p, etc.

I'd be astounded if it wasn't 1080p (this would certainly be a first for a BFI Blu-ray, and this is a flagship title), but I'm afraid I can also confirm with total certainty that it's Region B - a non-negotiable contractual condition insisted on by Fox as the rightsholder. Mind you, that's not a problem if you're in Australia.

Someone in UK plz find out for us!

I've just had an email from the Blu-ray's technical supervisor, who says:

You can let the forum folks know that THE LEOPARD is most definitely in full 1080P (we wouldn't have considered doing it any other way!) and looks pretty stunning.

Thanks Michael, good work!

The Australian Pulp Fiction is rumoured to be 1080i, a 2009 release!

That's shocking - there is no excuse for a film-sourced transfer being anything other than 1080p. I can forgive something like an opera Blu-ray originally shot for broadcast HD being in 1080i, but absolutely not a film.

Just wanting to check that the Blu has the Forgacs commentary?... Would be an added reason to double dip, seeing as I have the Criterion DVD, with only a Cowie offering in that department...

I hope a review emerges soon! When does this arrives to other retailers, February?

ellipsis7 wrote:Just wanting to check that the Blu has the Forgacs commentary?... Would be an added reason to double dip, seeing as I have the Criterion DVD, with only a Cowie offering in that department...

I'll check, but I'll be very surprised indeed if it isn't included - that commentary is one of the jewels in BFI DVD Publishing's crown, and I presume they own it outright.

I've checked with the producer of the Blu-ray, and am delighted to confirm that the specs either match or exceed the original DVD.

On the disc, there's the David Forgacs/Rosana Capitano commentary (widely regarded as being superior to Peter Cowie's equivalent on the Criterion) and the NFT interview with Claudia Cardinale. There are optional English subtitles for everything, including the commentary.

The only thing on the DVD that isn't on the Blu-ray is an onscreen Visconti biography, but that's redundant because there's now a full booklet (the DVD merely had a single page of sleevenotes inside the DVD case). This features a newly-commissioned essay from David Forgacs, an extract from a previously untranslated interview with Visconti about The Leopard given to his friend Antonello Trombadori, an article that Visconti wrote for the Sunday Times about cuts to the original UK/US release version, and a Visconti biog by Geoffrey Nowell-Smith.

david hare wrote:Michael, once again I need to ask if there are any superior audio elements for it. The score is sceaming out for multi track. But I have no idea if any original stems either exist or were even ever recorded. ( I assume they were if only because Fox was a stakeholder.)

I ran this by the disc's technical supervisor, who said:

Wishful thinking I'm afraid - as with all Italian productions of this period The Leopard's audio was entirely overdubbed (often without regard to lip synch) mixed in mono and as far as I know the original audio stems no longer survive. The audio will be a slight improvement on what appeared on ours and Criterion's SD disc, but it will not be stereo, I'm afraid, as that just wasn't possible.

However, the sound will be in PCM as opposed to Dolby Digital.

As I've mentioned a lot lately, I managed to see this at a live screening in preparation for this release, and the audio was pretty bad; as the producer mentions, which was quite common for Italian films of the period. It really looked like a tricky film to get looking and sounding right on high def, so I'll be curious to see how they've done when it arrives (took the plunge and ordered it before hearing any reviews or specs.)

I won't be able to help anyone by posting here, though, because I have to wait for it to ship to Australia.

I just thought I'd mention that I popped into the Oxford Street branch of HMV during my lunch break, and they had loads of copies - so it definitely exists!

Outstanding! And I can also confirm that I placed my order and subsequently received notification that it had shipped! So they have not been delayed!

Just popped THE LEOPARD Blu up on the projector - first impressions say it's a stunning picture, certainly a quantum leap up from the Criterion DVD - magnificent!....

UPDATE: Just watched it right through with commentary over soundtrack on big screen - a thing of beauty - two handed commentary very good, picture possibly, with a few others, one of the very the best renderings I've seen on BR - wow!...

Received my copy of The Leopard blu ray. Seems like an incredible job with these original film elements.

BD50
Massive booklet
Transfer that gives a richer experience of the film than I had when attempting to see it live, without the blown-out colours, dirt and scratches, sound-pops etc. Grain seems a bit too subtle for my liking, considering how obtrusive it was at the cinema; seems like some noise reduction was used, but not too much, as detail is sharp as hell.
No HD-bump was possible, because of the nature of the original soundtrack, which sounds less harsh and in control than it did live.

Ben Cheshire wrote:Grain seems a bit too subtle for my liking, considering how obtrusive it was at the cinema.

The disc's technical supervisor has just gone on holiday so I can't check with him directly, but I'd hazard a reasonably educated guess that the Blu-ray is a generation or two closer to the original negative than a 35mm release print would be.

Basically the 35mm print was horrible compared to the blu ray.

The disc's technical supervisor has just emailed me via his iPhone (so apologises for brevity) to say that:

You are correct that the grain structure would be more subtle on the BD than on a 35mm print, though we certainly worked to retain the original grain structure of the film without compromising it through processing. Grain is good.

He also says that specific technical information can be found in the booklet. I don't have a copy of the disc myself yet, so you're actually better informed than I am!

From the booklet 'About the transfer'

THE LEOPARD is presented in its original Super Technirama aspect ration of 2.21:1 and was transferred in High Definition from the original 35mm 8-perforation negative. Director of Photography Giuseppe Rotunno supervised this transfer.

It certainly looks that way - much better than a several generations on 35mm print - subtle tones, fine grain, sharp image, fantastic detail, and great (jet) blacks...

david hare wrote:Michael, another stupid question but I am assuming the BFI Blu edition does not include the Fox Scope ratio/ English dub version as an HD extra? Was this ever considered, or even available?
I happen to like it quite a bit, certainly as restored and presented on the Criterion SD and it is no small pleasure ot hear Burt's own voicetrack. In fact its inclusion might be a dealbreaker for me to go with a Criterion Region A if they include it.

What language was Burt speaking on set? It looks like it matches (in the usual vintage Italian dubbing way) roughly to the Italian dub.

So, what is the English dub? Do voice actors dub Cardinale and Delon et al in English and Burt does his own track?

Thanks, David. Final clarification needed: what language was spoken on set, by Delon and Lancaster, for example? They have to speak some language, surely, to provide the lip movements to be synced to? Are they all apeing Italian, regardless of whether they speak it?