Il Gattopardo    • Love it 1 (1963, d. Luchino Visconti)
starring Burt Lancaster, Claudia Cardinale, Alain Delon, Paolo
Stoppa   Aging Sicilian Prince Don Fabrizio Salina (Burt
Lancaster) views the waning fortunes of his aristocratic line
and culture with a melancholic yet stoic detachment as the
middle classes rise to form a unified Italy in the 1860’s.
Seeing his ambitious and savvy nephew, Tancredi Falconeri (Alain
Delon) as the family's hope to continue the prestige of their
family line in spite of these changing times, Don Fabrizio
encourages the marriage of Tancredi to the beautiful daughter
(Claudia Cardinale) of a wealthy former peasant (Paola Stoppa).
The classic novel by Prince Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa sets
the tone and provides the tale for this Luchino Visconti
masterpiece that exemplifies the themes that are the hallmark of
his work, grand passions played out in the world of the European
aristocracy. With Academy Award-nominated costumes, sweeping
cinematography of the Sicilian countryside b