Celluloid and Paper: The Leopard

Celluloid and Paper

Screening series

The Italian Cultural Institute of Chicago presents a series of screenings dedicated to the theme of film adaptations, inspired by Italian books, between classics and new publications, available at our library. The initiative takes place in conjunction with the reopening of the Institute’s library, recently renewed with the introduction of hundreds of new titles and thematic sections.

The Leopard

Directed by Luchino Visconti

1963, 186”, Italian with English subtitles

In-person screening

Thursday, September 28 at 6:00pm CT

Italian Cultural Institute of Chicago

In the 1860s, a dying aristocracy struggles to maintain itself against a harsh Sicilian landscape. The film traces with a slow and deliberate rhythm the waning of the noble home of Fabrizio Corbero, Prince of Salina (the Leopard) and the corresponding rise to eminence of the enormously wealthy ex-peasant Don Calogero Sedara. The prince himself refuses to take active steps to halt the decline of his personal fortunes or help build a new Sicily, but his nephew Tancredi, Prince of Falconeri, swims with the tide and assures his own position by marrying Don Calogero’s beautiful daughter Angelica. The climatic scene is the sumptuous ball in which Tancredi introduces Angelica to society.

Adaptation from the book “The Leopard” by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa. Available in our library or on Media Library Online. 

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Borrowing and consultation at the library of the Institute is free of charge, with a deposit. Members of the Italian Cultural Institute have access to two free ebooks per month, downloadable from Media Library Online, and the right to check out books from the library without deposit.

Free and open to the public. Registration is not required. Doors open at 5:30pm CT and seats are assigned on a first-come-first-served basis, until capacity is reached.