On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the death of director Luchino Visconti, the Italian Cultural Institute has organized a special screening of the film “Il Gattopardo” (“The Leopard”).
The film is set in Sicily during the Risorgimento, at the time of Garibaldi’s landing (1860). The protagonist is Prince Fabrizio of Salina, a lucid and disenchanted aristocrat who witnesses the decline of his social class with the advance of Italian unification. As the political and social order changes, his nephew Tancredi sides with the emerging forces, understanding that in order to preserve privilege and power, one must adapt: his famous line, “If we want things to stay as they are, things will have to change,” encapsulates this idea. To secure his family’s future, the Prince supports the marriage between Tancredi and Angelica, the daughter of a wealthy bourgeois, symbolizing the rise of a new social class. The long and celebrated final ballroom scene represents the definitive passing of the torch from the old aristocracy to the new ruling class, as the Prince comes to terms, with melancholic awareness, with the end of an era.
We look forward to welcoming you to celebrate Visconti’s cinematic masterpiece, the genius of Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, author of the novel on which the film is based, and the talent of the wonderful leading actors Alain Delon, Claudia Cardinale and Burt Lancaster.
The screening will begin at 5:00 pm and end at 8:00 pm. It will be in Italian with English subtitles and is intended for an adult audience only. Registration is required either on our website or via Eventbrite.
It is not possible to make multiple reservations with the same email address.
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