Il Gattopardo Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		5.0

Il Gattopardo Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov March 24, 2014

Winner of the Palme d'Or award at the Cannes Film Festival, Luchino Visconti's "Il gattopardo" a.k.a. "The Leopard" (1963) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Italian label Medusa. The supplemental features on the disc include an archival video interview with with producer Goffredo Lombardo; an archival video piece with cinematographer Giuseppe Rotunno; archival promo materials; and more. Also included with this release is Giuseppe Tornatore's documentary "L'ultimo gattopardo: Ritratto di Goffredo Lombardo" (2010). In Italian, with optional English and Italian subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

The attack

Prince Don Fabrizio Salina (Burt Lancaster, Birdman of Alcatraz) feels that times are changing. Garibaldi has landed in Sicily, and even his adored nephew, Tancredi (Alain Delon, The Assassination of Trotsky), who he has fancied to be his successor, has joined his army. Concerned about the future of his family, Fabrizio invites the newly elected mayor of the village, Don Calogero Sedara (Paolo Stoppa, The Gold of Naples), to dine with him in his palace because he knows that in the future he will need Calogero as a friend.

Calogero arrives at Fabrizio’s palace with his beautiful daughter Angelica (Claudia Cardinale, Girl with a Suitcase), who immediately steals Tancredi’s heart. Fabrizio is also impressed by her beauty, and so is his wife, Princess Maria Stella (Rina Morelli, Senso), who immediately senses that her plan to marry Tancredi to one of her daughters, Concetta (Lucilla Morlacchi, A Milanese Story), is in jeopardy.

Tancredi begs Fabrizio to ask Calogero for Angelica’s hand and then leaves the palace to join Garibaldi’s men. Upon learning about Tancredi’s request, however, Princess Maria Stella goes berserk and warns her husband that a marriage between the two will not only hurt Concetta, who has already confessed to Father Pirrone (Romolo Valli, The Garden of the Finzi-Continis) that she is in love with Tancredi, but will also tarnish the family’s reputation. But Fabrizio brushes her off and instead meets Calogero and announces Tancredi’s intention.

Tancredi returns to the palace, but this time as an officer of King Victor Emmanuel’s Army. He brings with him Count Cavriaghi (Terence Hill, They Call Me Trinity...), who he hopes Concetta would fall in love with. After Fabrizio greets him, Tancredi gives Angelica a beautiful engagement ring.

Meanwhile, an emissary from Turin arrives at the palace and invites Fabrizio to become a senator in the newly established parliament. Much to his surprise, however, Fabrizio declines the offer. Before they part ways, Fabrizio notes: “We were the leopards, the lions. Those who replace us will be the jackals, the hyenas. And all of us, leopards, lions, jackals and sheep, will continue to think we’re the salt of the earth”.

Based on the novel by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, a Sicilian aristocrat who lived during the Risorgimento (the Italian unification), Luchino Visconti’s The Leopard recreates an important period of Italy’s past during which Garibaldi and his men invaded Sicily and clashed with the Bourbon supporters, defeated the army of the King of Naples, and consequently turned in Sicily and Naples to Victor Emmanuel, who became the first king of united Italy. The shock waves these events created in the Italian South are felt through Fabrizio’s mixed reactions – approving of change and progress and at the same time targeting and criticizing the men who symbolized both.

The Leopard, however, is not a political film. If anything, it is a deeply nostalgic film. All of the dramatic conflicts in it lead to Fabrizio’s profound realization that “for things to remain the same, everything must change”.

Visconti was very specific about the look of The Leopard, which is why the emphasis on period detail in it is mind-boggling. The massive ball at the end of the film, for instance, is undoubtedly one of the greatest ever shot, truly evoking the spirit of a time when people worshiped excess.

Throughout the years, The Leopard has appeared in a number of different versions. When it premiered in Italy, the film apparently had a running time of approximately 205 minutes, but shortly after that Visconti edited it in a preferred by him 185-minute version. For its American premiere, The Leopard was dubbed in English and further cut down to 161 minutes. According to various Italian sources, in 1963, a different version of The Leopard was apparently shown at the Cannes Film Festival where it won the coveted Palme d’Or award.

***

Also included with this Italian release is director Giuseppe Tornatore's (Cinema Paradiso, Malèna ) documentary film L'ultimo gattopardo: Ritratto di Goffredo Lombardo (2010). The film focuses on the life and legacy of legendary Italian producer Goffredo Lombardo (The Leopard, Rocco and His Brothers, Purple Noon, Il Bidone) whose company, Titanus, financed some of the all-time greatest Italian films. Included in the documentary are new and archival interviews with actors Alain Delon, Claudia Cardinale, Giuliano Gemma, Burt Lancaster, Virna Lisi, and Sophia Loren, and directors Ettore Scola, Dario Argento, Mario Monicelli, Ermano Olmi, Francesco Rossi, and Lina Wertmuller, amongst others.

Il Gattopardo Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.55:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Luchino Visconti's The Leopard arrives on Blu- ray courtesy of Italian label Medusa.

The Leopard was restored in 4K in association with Cineteca di Bologna at L'Immagine Ritrovata, The Film Foundation, Pathe, Foundation Jerome Seydoux-Pathe, Twentieth Century Fox, and Centro Sperimentale di Cinematograpfia-Cineteca Nazionale. Funding for the restoration was provided by Gucci and The Film Foundation.

Digital picture restoration: Colorworks.
Sound laboratory services: L'Immagine Ritrovata.

The Italian release of The Leopard has little in common with Criterion's Region-A release. (See our review of the Criterion release here). In addition to the new framing, definition and depth are improved. Arguably the most obvious discrepancies can be seen during large panoramic shots (see screencapture #11), but there are various close-ups where minor improvements are also easy to spot as well. Furthermore, because of the high-quality scan -- the Criterion release does not use the 4K restoration as a foundation -- grain is better resolved on the Italian release. The color-grading is also very different. Saturation is far stronger, with yellows, browns, and different variations of reds also being a lot more prominent. As a result, the color balance is completely different. For example, compare screencapture #6 with screencapture #6 from our review of the Criterion release and see how drastically different saturation is. Various close-ups also reveal a tendency to favor far richer yellows and browns (see screencapture #13). Lastly, there are no traces of problematic degraining or sharpening corrections. The film also looks exceptionally clean and healthy. All in all, despite the different framing and improved image depth, I prefer the look of the Criterion release. My feeling is that color saturation is handled better and it is also more appropriate for the film's period atmosphere. My score is 4.25/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).

Il Gattopardo Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: Italian LPCM 2.0. For the record, Medusa have provided optional English and Italian SDH subtitles for the main feature. When turned on, they split the image frame and the black bar below it.

The lossless track is outstanding. Nino Rota's terrific score is well rounded, lush and very well balanced with the dialog (there are sudden spikes or drops in dynamic intensity). The dialog is clean, sharp, stable, and easy to follow. Also, there are no pops, cracks, audio dropouts, or distortions to report in this review.

Il Gattopardo Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Blu-ray Disc One

• Il Gattopardo raccontato da Goffredo Lombardo a cura di Luciana Migliavacca - in this archival interview producer Goffredo Lombardo, whose Titanus Films was bankrupted by Luchino Visconti, recalls his involvement with the famous director. Interviewed by Luciana Migliavacca. The same interview also appears on the Criterion release of The Leopard. In Italian, not subtitled. (20 min).

• Il recupero del Gattopardo intervista a Giuseppe Rotunno - an archival video piece with cinematographer Giuseppe Rotunno, who comments on the film's color grading. In Italian and some English, with printed Italian subtitles where necessary. (12 min).

• Il Gattopardo - un viagio nella memoria - this archival featurette focuses on the production history of The Leopard. In Italian, not subtitled. (21 min).

• Cinecronaca - archival TV footage showing the arrival of Burt Lancaster in Rome, clips from the film's premiere in Italy, etc. In Italian, not subtitled. (3 min).

• Cinegrionale - more archival footage. In Italian, not subtitled. (1 min).

• Presentazione cinematografica - a promo piece with footage from the film. In Italian, not subtitled. (4 min).

• Gallerie fotografiche - four sets of stills with text descriptions in Italian.
  
  1. I costumi (3 min).
  2. Le scenografie (1 min).
  3. Il set (4 min).
  4. Manifesti (1 min).

Blu-ray Disc Two

• L'ultimo gattopardo: Ritratto di Goffredo Lombardo (2010) - director Giuseppe Tornatore's (Cinema Paradiso, Malèna) documentary film about legendary Italian producer Goffredo Lombardo (The Leopard, Rocco and His Brothers, Purple Noon, Il Bidone) whose company, Titanus, financed some of the all-time greatest Italian films. Included in the documentary are new and archival interviews with actors Alain Delon, Claudia Cardinale, Giuliano Gemma, Burt Lancaster, Virna Lisi, and Sophia Loren, and directors Ettore Scola, Dario Argento, Mario Monicelli, Ermano Olmi, Francesco Rossi, and Lina Wertmuller, amongst others. In Italian, with optional English and French subtitles. (104 min, 1080p).

• A proposito de L'ultimo Gattopardo: Guido Lombardo e Giuseppe Tornatore ne parlano con Gian Luca Farinelli - Q&A session with Giuseppe Tornatore filmed after a screening of his documentary. In Italian, not subtitled. (16 min).

• Booklet - 30-page illustrated booklet. In Italian.

Il Gattopardo Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

If you are interested in the 4K restoration of Luchino Visconti's The Leopard, consider importing Italian label Medusa's English-friendly release. (French label Pathe's release is not English-friendly). But please keep in mind that the restoration has a very different color scheme. I personally prefer the color scheme of the Criterion release because I believe that it is far more appropriate for the film's period atmosphere, but you should read our reviews of the two releases and form your own opinion. I would also like to mention that the Italian release comes with a bonus disc with Giuseppe Tornatore's fantastic documentary L'ultimo gattopardo: Ritratto di Goffredo Lombardo about legendary Italian producer Goffredo Lombardo. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.