FREE ON CINEGEEK.DE THE BEST MOVIES IN OUR VIDEO STORE! Luchino Visconti - The Leopard (engl. subt.) 

Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, a Sicilian aristocrat, wrote the story of an aging Sicilian nobleman from his heart (probably following the example of his grandfather). Only one person later came into question to film this epic: Luchino Visconti, his sign of a Sicilian nobleman. However, the main cast, which today seems just as alternative, was a scandal in 1963: why was Hollywood star Burt Lancaster allowed to play Don Fabrizio, the Prince of Sicily? It was whispered that without Lancaster this project would not have been financially viable. Finally the premiere of Il Gattopardo took place in America in a version shortened by 40 minutes - dubbed in English! What devil rode Visconti there? When we opened the Filmkunstbar Fitzcarraldo, you couldn't get a good DVD of the film. Since its European premiere in 1963, the work has been rather neglected. During the 80s I went through the West Berlin video stores and searched. Finally there was a good version in the Videodrom. Then the sensation: A German release with the edited 40 minutes! Exactly these you can borrow today for one Euro. If you see Il Gattopardo again, you'll admire Burt Lancaster. A Hollywood star who already made "Indie" movies before the term even existed! He plays the prince who loves a lifestyle deeply and intimately that is nearing its end. His Don Fabrizio is a natural patriarch. His authority was placed in his cradle. Of course, he is aware of his age and of certain amoral tendencies. We experience him during a philosophical conversation with his friend, Father Pirrone. Fabrizio explains to the churchman how, in the future, he will have to make compromises in order to maintain the welfare of his clan. Just like the novel, the film begins during a family prayer. Suddenly you find a dead soldier outside in the garden. Garribaldi's revolution has spread from mainland Italy to Sicily. The days of the old order, they are numbered. The woman Don Fabrizios is called Maria Stella and it is obvious that in her life her own status counts more than her person. Both have three daughters of moderate beauty and a useless son. Don Fabrizio's pride is with his charming nephew Tancredi (Alain Delon). Only he will transfer the clan into a promising future. Tancredi is a hothead who joined Garribaldi. Of course, he is not a revolutionary, but a realist who will eventually be uniformed in Victor Emmanuel's royal army. Don Fabrizio also knows about the change of times, especially about the upcoming land reform. He believes that it is time for his family to arrange a beneficial marriage. During his summer hunting season, he hears of Don Calogero (Paolo Stoppa), who made wealth through clever investments. He invites Don Calogero to dinner, which turns Visconti into a sharply observed social comedy. The nouveau riche, clumsy and abysmally ugly businessman, who believes that money gives him status, meets the old nobility. Visconti hints at many things, but doesn't get bogged down in overdoing it. We smile, keep Don Fabrizios perspective. Don Calogero's wife doesn't appear, because not representative, but his beautiful daughter Angela (Claudia Cardinale) does. Cardinale at the peak of her beauty! Of course we understand why Tancredi falls in love immediately. Don Fabrizio, for his part, is enchanted and so it may come to an arranged marriage between Tancredi and Angela. Any other director would have made it a soap opera, but not Visconti. In the foreground is Fabrizio's concern to be able to live a less befitting life in the future. Of course we understand that the nobility exploited the working class (Visconti, a Marxist, knew that as well!). But the prince is such a good and proud man who is so clearly aware of his weaknesses and has such a love for traditional life - how could we condemn him? The worries that move his compromises, we share them! But there is something else: the prince is an alpha animal, born to lead. Feminine beauty touches him (although he also tries to accept the Church's criticism of his decadent being). Angela's beauty fascinates him - as does his nephew Tancredi. But Visconti can't allow him to express his delight in anointed speeches. Fabrizio expresses it only in looks and gestures. After all, the prince was already 45 years old - around 1860 too old to put his feelings into words. Il Gattopardo leads into a 40-minute ball scene. I think in the history of cinema, human mortality has never been shown so fascinating again! Everything that occurs in the film is condensed once again in this scene - and there are no