Tracy: So:
The Leopard. A movie where it takes thirty minutes to relate a five-minute long
conversation.
Natalie: Exactly. And when that becomes a 3+hour movie, "it's
pretty" doesn't make it any better.
Tracy: God,
it was SO SLOW. It almost felt like the speed was wrong on the DVD. Every shot
was held for beats too long. And just when I thought I was going to get
involved in the story--ooh, political subversion! ooh, a love triangle!--it
turned out not to be that important to the people in the movie.
Natalie: Right. And then we spend an hour at a ball in which
nothing happens. I wouldn't stay at a ball that long in person if nothing were
happening.
Tracy: Hah!
I kept expecting Angelica to actually be related to them or something, but no,
it was all like listening to someone relate the past few months of their life.
This happened. And then this happened. And then we went to a ball. I sort of
got a Faulknerian feel from it--that the world was being
"Snopesified" and there was this nostalgia for the lost aristocracy,
but I think I was just so desperate for something to happen, I might have made
that up.
Natalie: Or for Angelica's mother to actually come into play and cause
a problem. Or for something to be wrong with Angelica. For there to be a
consequence to any action. Or something. There was definitely
a nostalgia for the lost aristocracy but we don't see so much of that; there is
an hour long ball at the end where the only disruptions are an uncouth
father-in-law-to-be and a braggart army guy. Surely, balls of that size usually
have two people who don't fit in--you can read Austen and find that. And, an
aristocrat marries slightly below him. But she's not a peasant and, again, that
happens. I think more was needed to actually illustrate the point--the way
Downton Abbey manages it perhaps in that we see some characters clinging to the
past, some characters fully embracing the future, and some stuck in between but
we see multiple classes of people and how the rise of the lower classes
actually impacts the higher class. With The Leopard, we're only in the drawing
room and only see those who are invited in, not those who have pushed their way
in via the revolution.
Tracy: Jesus!
I completely forgot about Angelica's crazed nympho mother! How can you mention
that and then not have it be significant? It's like breaking Chekhov's gun
rule. And that's a good comparison with Downton Abbey--we actually see this
kind of social change be a struggle and literally painful in
individual lives. It's hard to communicate that kind of existential drama when
you have 8 million shots of a road with no dialogue. And I'm sorry, the
incredibly intrusive music wasn't doing it for me either. I will say
this--Lancaster looked pretty good getting out of the tub, and like we talked
about, there was some serious architecture porn going on. But that's not enough
to sustain a 3-hour long movie. It's like it wanted to be an epic,
and had all the ingredients for an epic, and mixed them all in, but forgot to
put it in the oven.
Natalie: Yes! Yes! Yes! It was
completely raw and needed some serious editing of the landscape shots and the
ball. But, agreed, I enjoyed Burt Lancaster and I'm sure a lot of people
enjoyed Angelica because she looked like she might devour someone at any
minute. But, it didn't make it to epic status for me. So, the book . . . . .
has two catchphrases it can’t ignore: “Oscar winner” and “cult classic.”
Apparently, The Leopard is the latter (it was nominated for costume design but
that’s not mentioned). The book makes a few errors in simple plot then proceeds
to heap praise on the “brightly directed and photographed” film that includes a
bevy of “symbolic connotations” and is declared “one of the best adaptations in
the history of cinema” (from Giuseppe Tomasi Di Lampedusa’s novel of the same
name). The book continues its praise by applauding Burt Lancaster and,
director, Luchino Visconti (“No other filmmaker handled Lancaster the way
Visconti did, making him look so aristocratic, so distinguished, but also so
human”) as well as the shared supposed obsession with death among author and
main character. Intriguingly, the book claims this film “mesmerizes huge
audiences and is at the same time highly personal.”
Tracy: Angelica
could have been so much cooler--she peaked when she had that long inappropriate
laugh at dinner. A "cult classic"? Really? I don't think the book
watched the movie. And though I've never read the book, I seriously doubt the
adaptation is that magnificent. Did it try to replicate how long it would take
to read the book with the movie? It mesmerizes only in the sense that it lulls
you into complacency. Lancaster was good, and maybe a bit death obsessed at the
ball, but that ball would make anyone long for death. I would say the only
reason to see this is the costumes. For how these elements are actually
supposed to work--see The Godfather.
Natalie: Agreed about Angelica. She didn't do anything else for the
rest of the film. If this adaptation is magnificent, I worry about the book and
why anyone would adapt it in the first place. I wasn't mesmerized at all; if I
were, I wouldn't have stopped it in the middle to watch bad TV. It seemed he
was a tad death obsessed but also that maybe he was actively ill--like he ate a
bad shrimp or something--so it was hard for me to give the film that. Well,
we'll see that one later :)
Tracy: Hah!
I know! I kept expecting him to keel over from a metaphorically resonant heart
attack, but nope. He just wandered around looking vaguely dyspeptic. So
do you say keep it in? I can't think of anything it does influence wise that
Lawrence of Arabia or something similar doesn't and better.
Natalie: Ha! That would have worked for me. I don't see a reason to
keep it. I can't think of anything it does, even in Italian, that another film
doesn't do and I'm pretty sure even if it were only a performance based
inclusion (which the book doesn't indicate) we could find another Lancaster,
Vicsonti, whomever else, that is better. Well, maybe not Visconti if this is
his crowning glory.
And there are 4 other Visconti movies for us to try out that
theory.
Tracy: Oh,
great. I want to know what "cult" finds this a "classic." I
say, boot it.
Natalie: HA! Not a cult that we want to be a part of I'm pretty
sure. Agreed! On to the wild west
Tracy: Yippie kay yay, etc.!
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