The Leopard

The final sentece of the movie description on iTunes states, "This is the original US theatrical version of the film, dubbed in English and featuring Lancaster's real voice." This is defintely NOT the dubbed verson at all but is the orginlal Italian version with optional (and substandard) subtitles. and with some Italian actor reading Burt's dialog on the soundtrack. Yes, the original full length restored version in Italian is certainly worth viewing (and generally considered superior) but I purchased this movie expecting to hear English dialog and Lancaster's distinctive voice on the soundtrack. False advertising Apple. Whoever is managing ITunes these days needs to get his or her act together so mistakes like this do not happen again.

I'm a fan of the director and of most of the actors as well, but having read the book (for a class) and having seen both this cut-down version and the ~30 minute director's cut of the film, I reluctantly part company with the critics and say this film's a truly faithful interpretation of a boring, inconsequential novel. How Visconti can portray one of the most stirring, dangerous eras in Italian history and mould it into this incoherent, cold fish of a film I can not understand. My Grandmother, who rarely read, save in the Reader's Digest condensed versions, loved the novel, but even she thought the film a pretentious, boring mess.

The movie is full of magnificent visuals and pure poetry. A remarkable and very beautiful cast. But I must say the story and most of its characters are too Italian for me. It's hard to understand or sympathize with the declining of the 18th century Italian aristocracy . The movie is very slow moving at times but still a great watch. Wasn't Visconti a communist?

A very poor period piece, must be 50 years old. For those who have not read the book the movie will probably be very hard to understand. Congratulations to anybody who can watch this one through to the end! Its truly awful.

This is an amazing film, but please release the restored 185-min version, instead of this truncated US version, with a half-hour missing...!

for all that razz about national heritage these days. The characters are the history, so it’s short on emotion, but feelings show up, like Shakespeare, in surprise little places. Exquisite scenes that sometimes shift too quickly. Watch it.

A very good film

One of the best by both Visconti and Lancaster - based on the novel by Lampedusa, rejected by all publishers when he submitted it, the work was eventually published after his death because his widow pushed for its acceptance. It is even in the English translation such a splendid piece of writing, a glimpse at Garibaldi's Italy when the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies was falling apart. The scenery, the heat, the passion of the characters - all of this is outstandingly presented with that customary combination of nostalgia and despair. The carriage ride to the summer home in the mountains is magnficent, the passengers covered in dust and weighed down by the social conventions that demand this transition from city to country and from country to city even as the social order is collapsing - Lancaster is magnificent, the supporting actors cowed both by his performance as an actor and by the character he protrays, an aristocrat of the oldest school but well aware of the impending end of his world. I recommend it for the acting, the directing, the glimpse of this often forgotten or ignored piece of history.