Fine lace curtains blow in the breeze as Prince Don Fabrizio Salina and his family gather to say their prayers. Suddenly shouts from outside their plush mansion announce that a dead soldier has been found in the garden, a victim of the encroaching rebellion. So begins Luchino Visconti’s The Leopard (1963), a landmark of historical cinema finally available in a sprawling 3-DVD set. The film is both broad in its scope and meticulous in its detail, tracing the decline of the Italian aristocracy during the Risorgimento in the person of the aging prince (portrayed with mannerly control by Burt Lancaster) as he attempts to maintain his position amid political tumult. Meanwhile, his upstart nephew (Alain Delon, exuding rakish charm) splits his loyalties between a life of privilege and the glory of fighting for populist freedom. All this plays out in gorgeously decorated settings, from sumptuous dinners in rococo villas to bloody battles in the dusty city streets.
While the film is a feast for the eyes, Visconti’s languid pacing and careful exploration of the aristocracy’s pomp and circumstance might drag for some viewers during the 3-hour running time. Just as the director slaves in his dedication to detail, Criterion’s 3-disc set offers both the entire Italian and English-language versions of the film (the Italian featuring a dubbed Burt Lancaster, and the English with everyone else dubbed). This might be a bit of overkill for even stalwart movie buffs, but an entire disc of supplementary material helps put the film in context with history and Giuseppi Tomasi di Lampedesa’s novel, on which it was based.