Visconti never made a movie to appeal to common tastes, styles, it is ludicrous to compare this movie to any other. It is a work of ART, and it is meant to be seen in that fashion. It is comparing apples and oranges to compare this movie to say a movie by Scorcese, Scorcese adapted and ultimately made his movie with the tastes and sensibility of common, modern tastes and sensibilities. Visconti would have never lowered himself or his standards. But, that is the difference, Visconti was above it, on another level of existence, removed from the need/want of publicity, fame, etc, he knew who he was and where he came from.This is hard especially for Americans to understand, because they have no sense of self, their is no continuity of human experience in this country. Watching this movie, you see how he saw his experience as a continium of existence going back thousands of years with his ancestors, it is this background which is so hard for an American to understand, and comprehend. It is really the tragedy of being an American. This movie transcends place and time, and that is what great ART is, in the classical Western tradition. It fullfills this criterion as set forth by the Ancient Greeks/Romans, and it is gone forever. There will never be another Visconti...
Review of The Leopard
