Visconti's <i>Il Gattopardo</i>: aspects of a literary adaptation

Abstract

In 1963 Luchino Visconti adapted for the screen Tomasi di Lampedusa's controversial novel Il Gattopardo and thus gave to the cinema one of the most carefully mounted historical films ever produced. It is clear that the mixed reception accorded it by English and American critics owed much to the mutilated version on which they based their judgements. However, even today, the film's formidable running time (190 minutes in its restored version), the characteristically long Viscontian takes, the extended treatment of many episodes, the abrupt transitions between certain sequences, must sometimes create, especially in the mind of viewers unfamiliar with Lampedusa's novel, the impression of a somewhat disjointed and unwieldy structure. In the following pages I shall look at a number of the ways in which Visconti responded to the adaptive challenge posed by such an elaborate and multi-layered narrative as Il Gattopardo. For the most part, it will be seen that the director has managed to strike a successful balance between the traditional demands of fidelity to the text and the creative autonomy which has always been a hallmark of his cinema.