150 Years of Italian Unity: IL GATTOPARDO

IL GATTOPARDO (The Leopard, Luchino Visconti, F/I 1963, March 23, introduction: Meike Albath) In 1860 Giuseppe Garibaldi conquered Sicily and threatened the power of the aristocracy. The time of the Risorgimento, the foundation of the Italian nation-state, is tied to the decline of the nobility and the rise of the bourgeoisie. Don Fabrizio, the Prince of Salina, is aware that the development cannot be stopped, acknowledging it with light melancholy and weariness. His nephew Tancredi seizes the opportunity and marries the daughter of a nouveau riche mayor. His motto is that everything must change if everything is to remain the same. Visconti stages the epic film adaptation of the eponymous novel by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa as a grandiose festival of the senses, culminating in a 40-minute ballroom scene.