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Master Rank #509

The Leopard

1963

GCML Total8.3640% Greatness · 40% Engagement · 20% Ease

Directed by Luchino Visconti

CastBurt Lancaster · Alain Delon · Claudia Cardinale

ItalyItalianDrama185 minNot Rated
Sight & SoundNarrative FeatureDeliberate pace
Find Where to Watch
Original poster artwork · Great Cinema Master List
Cannes · 1

Spoiler-free premise

A Sicilian prince watches his family and class confront the political upheaval of Italian unification.

Read expanded premiseLonger, still spoiler-free

During Garibaldi's campaign in 1860 Sicily, Prince Fabrizio of Salina watches aristocratic authority yield to a new political order. His ambitious nephew Tancredi courts beautiful Angelica, daughter of wealthy bourgeois mayor Don Calogero Sedara.

Why it belongs

Through Sicilian landscape, aristocratic ritual, and Lancaster's prince recognizing that survival may require surrender, The Leopard makes historical transition sensuous.

Read expanded why it belongsThe fuller editorial case

Burt Lancaster's stillness carries lucid melancholy. Dust, palaces, military processions, hunting estates, formal dinners, fading frescoes, and the extended ballroom sequence make class change visible in bodies and décor.

Major award record

Metadata only · zero points in 40/40/20
Cannes1 win1963 · official festival record ↗
Palme d'or (Remis à l'unanimité)1963 · Luchino VISCONTIofficial festival record ↗

Totals include every recorded competitive win. Only Picture or top-film honors, Direction, Screenplay, and lead or supporting performances are named.

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Film Club
Descriptive guidance derived from rating, genre, runtime, mood, and GCML scores.

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