In 1958, Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa’s novel The Leopard was published. Its author was not alive to see his book in print, or to learn that his short novel about a Sicilian prince would one day be voted Italy’s favourite novel. It won the Strega Prize for Fiction and has been voted by The Guardian as one of ‘the ten best historical novels’. In 1963, it broke records again with the movie version winning several awards. That starred Burt Lancaster, Claudia Cardinale and Alain Delon and is today considered a classic film.
My literary and artistic tour in Sicily takes in many places associated with the author, his novel, and the classic movie version. It was so exciting to see the places that inspired Lampedusa, and the locations familiar from the 1963 film. I loved eating almond biscuits in the convent, just as the Prince does in the novel, and seeing the elderly nuns who live there. I really felt like I was walking straight into the pages of the book.
Now, there is a new limited series TV version of The Leopard (Il Gattopardo) to watch on Netflix. It is in six parts and had a budget of over 40 million euros. It is certainly a lavish production—it required 5,000 extras, 130 carriages, 100 animals along with 12 animal trainers, many boats and carts, and, of course, grand houses. The filming was done mostly in Sicily, with some scenes also shot in Turin.
I sat down with great anticipation to watch this new series. Kim Rossi Stuart was an excellent and moving Don Fabricio Corbera, Prince of Salina. Less successful were Saul Nanni as Tancredi and Deva Cassel as Angelica. The costumes and sets were sumptuous, and it was wonderful to see those amazing Sicilian landscapes. However, for me, there was just too much messing around with the book. It’s so superbly written, so compact and deep, but the film makers clearly felt it needed a lot of extra padding to spin it out for six episodes. And so they hugely added to the role of one of the Prince’s daughters, Concetta, well acted by Benedetta Porcoroli. Her love for her cousin, her courtship with another man, and her relationship with her dominating father tend to take centre stage, taking the focus from the Prince and his declining fortune and status. I would rather have had a shorter series that was more faithful to the book.
If you have never read The Leopard, do consider doing so. It’s such a superb novel. Let me know your thoughts in a comment.
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