The Leopard

Unless you are a real lover of the period piece or perhaps a dedicated student of the Risorgimento period of Italian history I suspect you may find it a challenge to get all the way through this one. I made it about two thirds of the way through the ball scene at the end before hitting fast forward. I could hardly believe how much of it there was left. At just over three hours, The Leopard is a long film, but it’s not so much the length as the pace that is the problem. Nothing much happens, but it happens very slowly. Burt Lancaster was a controversial choice to play the Sicilian aristocrat who, realising that the nobles’ grip on power is slipping, encourages his nephew (Alain Delon) to marry the mayor’s daughter (Claudia Cardinale). The mayor is not of the nobles, he (horrors) made his money from property development and is not 100% au fait with dinner party etiquette. I’m sure there is much symbolism here and indeed by the end of the ball we feel acutely the weariness of the aristocratic revelers as they put themselves through yet another tortuous Mazurka. Better value elsewhere.