Review of The Leopard (1963) by Benedikt W — 17 Oct 2007

This movie does Tommasi de Lampedusa's beautifully poetic book (a must read!) justice. It is the key to catching a sense of what Sicily is about well beyond the common clichés. A need-to-see in preparation to or as "de-briefing" to a visit to this impression-packed and beautiful island.

Just like with Fellini, Visconti's settings and cinematic vision is essentially that of someone grown up in the symbolic universe of Catholicism - you can imagine how sitting trhough long, boring mass services surrounded by all the abundant baroque decoration of Italian curches helped shape the images he brings to live in his movies.