il bello, il alessagio, il gattopardo

Il Gattopardo (The Leopard) is a strange beast. It is a feature film, a period film, involving the romances of two generations of Sicilian nobility living through the Risorgimento of 1860's Italy. Yet, it's not really a narrative film. Sure, there are characters, and things happen to them, but there is no direction, no development - no story.

No, it's closer to a painting; sometimes, a landscape, at other times, an intimate portrait. Each shot is like walking into the painting of a Great Master. The filmmakers seem to have used brushes rather than costumes, arclights, and Technicolor. The Sicilian countryside is recognizable to anyone familiar with The Godfather, but redrawn in a lyrical light. The light is heightened, the composition classical, but dynamic.

At the center of it all are the dashing Alain Delon and the stunningly feline Claudia Cardinale - between roles in 8-1/2 and The Pink Panther - pouting, teasing, and waltzing her way into the aristocracy. When her father comments on the beauty of Don Diego's place, we all agree with Burt Lancaster's reply "yes, Don Calogero, it's very nice. But nothing can compare to our young couple." (Is it just a coincidence that Cardinale becomes a countess in The Leopard, only to play a princess in The Panther?)

This is the first feature film I've ever seen where I really missed the detail lost at DVD resolution. (I'm sure I'm missing something watching Star Wars on the small screen, but honestly, so what?) Watching Il Gattopardo on DVD, even though lovingly restored by Criterion, is like looking at a Degas reproduction in the museum catalog. And just about as uninteresting.

It is as close to a pure "period piece" as I've seen: it captures the zeitgeist of the Risorgimento (or at least it makes me believe it does), delivering, in the process, a eulogy to Sicily. It lacks story, and thus seems even longer than its over three-hour runtime. But it sets down its rules clearly, and sticks to them. It's up to each viewer to breathe in its beauty or get bored with its idleness. I stayed for the whole ride, and while I don't recommend doing so if you are already sleepy, I was rewarded with a magical feeling I had only previously experienced during the best MGM Freed musicals. Something like Gigi, but for adults.