We have just finished watching a Netflix series, a six-episode version of Il Gattopardo, based on the novel by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa. I was initially on two minds about whether I wanted to watch this new adaptation as Luchino Visconti’s 1963 film version is one of my favourite films of all time. Could a new version come close to equalling it? Would a new version taint my opinion of the older film, spoiling my enjoyment? Would it, indeed could it, add anything new?
But we were looking for something new to watch and decided to give it a try. The result? A splendidly enjoyable televisual experience!!
It is a very different version, however, adding elements to the original storyline, very credible elements which only serve to enhance the original. The corruption that followed the Risorgimento - the inevitable people taking advantage of a time of upheaval to make themselves rich - was depicted, for example.
There are still echoes of the old film. Many of the cast resemble those in the film to some extent.
Tancredi does not pick peaches to deliver to Angelica but he throws a ripe peach up to her as she stands on a balcony watching him ride into Palermo.
Don Fabrizio still has his mistress in Palermo and he is still chastised by the family’s resident priest and urged to confess his sins. But we see some of her back-story as the series progresses.
And Don Fabrizio gets to dance his waltz with Angelica.
Don Fabrizio Corbera, Principe di Salina, in the TV series, played by Kim Rossi Stuart, seems to me a much more vulnerable person than he appears, played by Burt Lancaster, in the 1963 film. We see his disillusionment and despair as society changes around him.
Angelica, played by Deva Cassel, daughter of Monica Bellucci and Vincent Cassel, is perhaps less sensually beautiful than Claudia Cardinale’s Angelica, but she is more obviously ambitious socially and politically. I seem to remember, however, from reading the book that in the novel she becomes quite important in the world of diplomacy.
Most striking for me was the greater role given to Concetta, in the book and the film the rather shy, somewhat repressed daughter of the Principe di Salina. In the film we know her heart is broken when Tancredi falls for Angelica but then she sort of fades into a bitter spinsterhood and is largely dismissed.
To some extent the TV series morphs into Concetta’s story. Beautifully played by Benedetta Porcaroli, she is stronger, more intelligent, or at any rate more informed and aware. She is more independent, while being a great support to her father. And in the end, after the death of Don Fabrizio and her younger brother’s accession to the title of Principe di Salina, she is clearly the strong guiding force, keeping the family strong in the new age. She has become the Leopard!
Now I need to reread the novel. And at some point I will watch Visconti’s beautiful film once more, with slightly different eyes.
It’s interesting how spin-offs of this kind sometimes work so well. I find myself thinking of Daphne du Maurier’s “Rebecca”, which gave rise to Sally Beauman’s very readable “Rebecca’s Tale”. And TV series do it: think of “Better Call Saul” as an offshoot of “Breaking Bad”.
And now we need to find something new to watch in the evenings. “Emily in Paris” is all very well as amusing fluff with splendid, sometimes outrageous costumes but it’s not the same.
Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!
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