The Leopard

“The Leopard, one the best socialist films, by Visconti, of course.”

“Well, I’ll start with The Leopard. Visconti, very important filmmaker for me and has had an extraordinary influence on all of my work, especially my first film, The Childhood of a Leader. Some of the most extraordinary sequences, I think, in the history of the medium. So, will take that.”

“Leopard, fantastic. When I think I'm not right for a role because I'm not enough like the character, I always think of Burt Lancaster and The Leopard. I mean, this Hollywood guy... He's going to be an elegant Sicilian gentleman? I don't think so, but you know what, it worked fantastically. So when you don't think you're right for something, you actually may be very right for it or you may be able to find a way to get there, which is cool.”

“The Leopard, probably the best movie I've ever seen in my life. And they dubbed everyone. I thought Burt Lancaster could speak Italian, I thought Alain Delon could speak Italian, they can't, they just dubbed them. I was so blown away by that. But just the pacing and the story, the surrender of the old guard for the new guard, it's really something else.”

“This was a complete revelation to see this movie... Mid 19th century Sicily. I knew I was looking at something that was so special and the evocation of a period was so vivid... It introduced me to the work of Piero Tosi the costume designer... Most of the costume designers work is often jeopardized and sabotaged by the work of hair and makeup departments and so to see a man in control creating this world... When they're in this movie they inhabit the clothes.”

“Il Gattopardo, The Leopard, this magnifico, this is really a masterpiece...”

“Oh here is The Leopard I was doing a film with Cimino, The Sicilian, and so that's why I watched The Leopard... I played an aristocrat and I socialized with the aristocrats in Sicily and so The Leopard was wonderful to watch for that yeah I take that and Visconti is of course visually everything is so beautiful...”

“Aha, The Leopard, from my buddy Piero Tosi. I've seen some of these clothes up close—the shapes, the fabric, the details. There's a thing with some of these films too that you get a sense of when the film was made, but you also are just in love with how period it all looks and how exquisite it all looks. That's the kind of thing that whets my appetite to watch and to enjoy and to just luxuriate in the beautiful artistry of a designer.”