Il Gattopardo (The Leopard) + Introduction
Classic by Luchino Visconti about a feudal ruler trying to secure his position of power and his family's social status in Sicily in 1860, the year of Italian unification.
IL GATTOPARDO is an epic on the grandest possible scale. The film recreates, with nostalgia, drama, and opulence, the tumultuous years of Italy’s Risorgimento – when the aristocracy lost its grip and the middle classes rose and formed a unified, democratic Italy. Burt Lancaster stars as the aging prince watching his culture and fortune wane in the face of a new generation, represented by his upstart nephew and his beautiful fiancée. Awarded the Palme d’Or at the 1963 Cannes Film Festival, IL GATTOPARDO translates Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa’s novel, and the history it recounts, into a truly cinematic masterpiece.
Prof. Nico Randeraad, gives an introduction to the film. He will talk about the director, the author of the book and will mainly discuss the historical context of the story. He is a historian at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences of Maastricht University and director of the Social Historical Centre Limburg (SHCL).
Schedule:
19.15 - Doors open
19.30 - Start introduction
19.40 - Start film
22.45 - End