Written by Andreas Babiolakis

This review is a part of the Palme d’Or Project: a review of every single Palme d’Or winner at Cannes Film Festival. The Leopard won the ninth Palme d’Or at the 1963 festival.

The film was selected by the following jury.
Jury President: Armand Salacrou.
Vice President: Rouben Mamoulian.
Jury: Jacqueline Audry, Wilfrid Baumgartner, François Chavane, Jean de Baroncelli, Robert Hossein, Rostislav Yurenev, Kashiko Kawakita, Steven Pallos, Gian Luigi Rondi.

When you first become obsessed with film and begin your pursuit of all of the greats, you will likely be pointed in the direction of classics like The Godfather, Casablanca, and Lawrence of Arabia. I feel like The Leopard is a treasure you find if you never give up your quest: a masterpiece that deserves to be discussed amongst other epic greats. Luchino Visconti’s greatest achievement is a titanic nineteenth century opus that is as large as it is stunning, as wide as it is poignant, and as powerful as it is poetic. When major filmmakers discuss the brilliance of this film and that it stands amongst the best, you have to believe them. Considering that The Leopard won the Palme d’Or and it was only nominated for one Academy Award (for Costume Design), that says it all. This is a miraculous production that may have been destined to be within its own circles and not considered at the top of the medium by the most mainstream of film publications. What a shame.

How did we get here? Well, the release history certainly doesn’t help. Cannes was able to enjoy a massive over-three-hour version of the film (this is obviously the cut that got awarded the top honour), and the American public got a release that was well over half an hour shorter. This release has been deemed inferior and not the version to watch if you want to ingest the true spectacles of the film. We’ve heard this story many times before, have we not? Excellent films being bastardized by the lack of trust in the viewing public when it comes to long runtimes. The Leopard got hit by this as well. At least there has been the release of the definitive, longer cut since, and you have access to Visconti’s picture as it was meant to be seen. If we allow and understand the magnitude of films with how they look and feel, we have to start confiding in their runtimes that match (and make these entire trips worthwhile; lopping off portions usually negate enough of the experience).

It’s challenging to explain The Leopard’s story because of its immense amount of details, but I can safely say that this is exactly what it feels like to be engulfed by a damn good read; Visconti brings Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa’s novel of the same name to great heights. During the many courses of events in 1860s Sicily, we are right beside Prince Don Fabrizio Corbera (of Salina), whose wealth and fortune clearly have him in a desirable position. However, The Leopard is fixated on loss amidst the changing seasons of time, during war, political reform, and fluctuating wealth. Don Corbera has to face his eventual demises; as a living being; as the most powerful and beloved man around; as a member of society. Part of this ruckus comes in the form of Don Corbera’s nephew: Prince Tancredi Falconeri. His successes overshadow Don Corbera’s achievements of yesteryear. Over the numerous hours of The Leopard, you can’t help but feel the crushing weight of being attached to a memory and not present life.

The Leopard captures this longing especially well by the monumental ending, featuring the iconic ball sequence that places one of the most bittersweet bows upon this motion picture. Celebrations are all about the now; even if they were to pretend to be in honour of the past, it’s all about feeling good now. That will pass. What we once knew will disappear. Our recollections will fade and become unreliable. Our own selves will perish before our bodies do. You cannot escape the sensation and magnitude of life itself whilst watching The Leopard as people fall on the battlefield, lifestyles permanently transform, fortune comes and goes, families begin, and yesterday’s generation hurts; all over this immense runtime. That’s the brilliance of this film. It doesn’t dream about achieving a magnificent presence. It just possesses one. Whilst other epic dramas feel a little hollow, The Leopard has geological-levels of layers.

There are three superstar leads in this film, including Burt Lancaster, Claudia Cardinale, and Alain Delon. This may seem puzzling on paper given their different nationalities (American, Italian, and French, respectively), and they actually all spoke in their native tongues on set. As was normal with Italian filmmaking for a number of years, all of the sound was done in post (including dubbing over every single character in Italian), as to save money during the production process (by not having any on-set sound equipment). If you’ve seen enough Italian films from the 60s and 70s, you will be used to this technique, and The Leopard is hardly noticeable when it comes to its dubbing. It barely matters anyway when all three icons are at their very best, with Lancaster mustering both poise and pure emotion, Cardinale full of grace, and Delon being as mysterious as ever.

Chances are you love films if you’re on this site and reading this review. If you have never seen or even heard of Luchino Visconti’s The Leopard, do yourself a favour and watch it. Put the time into it. You, too, will wonder why this isn’t championed amongst its peers. It feels like all of the stars aligned for this picture, and there really is no ambitious feat that feels quite like it. You will be as devastated as you are blown away. Not many films feel this genuinely gorgeous, grandiose, majestic, or gigantic. If possible, catching it on a theatre screen is ideal: it is best to feel every single bit of this picture. As it was released during the final era of the epics of yesteryear, I can safely say that they don’t make films quite like The Leopard anymore.

Andreas Babiolakis has a Masters degree in Film and Photography Preservation and Collections Management from Toronto Metropolitan University, as well as a Bachelors degree in Cinema Studies from York University. His favourite times of year are the Criterion Collection flash sales and the annual Toronto International Film Festival.