Review of The Leopard (1963) by Tonypolito — 13 Aug 2010

***REVIEW: ORIGINAL ITALIAN VERSION***.

1963's Palme d'Or. Visuals are the main viewer reward. Epic in scope, brimming with extraordinarily lush/lavish period set-pieces & costuming, "Leopard" tells the political downfall of an Italian aristocratic family, set against 1860's historical & political events. It's a far more subtle telling than "Gone With The Wind" or "Doctor Zhivago," but such comparisons are natural and fair.

Sicily's among the last provinces to be conquered toward a unified, democratic Italy, so when Garibaldi and The Risorgimento sack Palermo, a Sicilian prince (Lancaster) anticipates the ending of his provincial aristocratic privilege, granted 230 years prior by the King of Spain. So he sets upon ever-so gracefully crafting his family's transition into membership within Italy's new elite. The leopard must change his spots.

From an Italian novel of GWTW stature, based upon true facts from the author's ancestry. Not much wide-screen wasted here; epic-viewing, becoming of an epic storyline. Massive, ornate, elaborate interior set-pieces emphasize the characters' highly-insulated nobility. The final Grand Ballroom scene, at 45 minutes, is epic in itself. The camera floats through the cavernous space, wafting over gorgeous costuming, capturing nuanced gestures and expressions that substantiate everyone's resolutions with their futures.

Criterion resto, from a Super Technirama 70mm negative. Technicolor. 2.21:1 ratio. Too frequently there's fuzzy contrast or oversaturated color. Sad, since original visual satisfaction likely rivaled, if not surpassed, "Barry Lyndon." The coarse overdubbing of Lancaster in this 185-minute Italian version is tedious, but still preferable to the 161-minute US/English hatchet-job. (Both versions included in the 3-disc box set.).

TRIVIA: Serious influence upon Coppola's "Godfather" trilogy; some character names and scoring are overtly co-opted.

RECOMMENDATION: Restoration's not entirely up to snuff, but still, for the cinematography, recommended. Mangia!

***REVIEW: ENGLISH VERSION RELEASE***.

Watch the 185-minute Criterion-born Italian Version (with English subtitles) instead of the English version release. The coarse overdubbing of Lancaster in the Italian version is tedious, but still it's far preferable to the 161-minute US/English hatchet-job done by 20th Century Fox to make the film run within the time-frame typically more palatable to American theater-goers.

The Criterion Italian Version is better viewing as well. It was transferred in 2003 (in Hi-Def) off a newly discovered Super Technirama 70mm negative. ST70 negatives were derived from the 35mm anamorphic Technirama source negative by "unsqueezing" the anamorphism to true, then fitting that result onto higher-resolution, higher-quality 70mm negatives. ST70 prints were intended for deluxe (eg, "roadshow") exhibition in large-screen and/or "movie palace" venues. The 2.21:1 aspect ratio presented in the Criterion Italian Version is that which is native to 70mm film.