The Leopard itself is a film that takes place during the latter part of the process of the Unification of Italy on the island of Sicily.
This film is often regarded as one of Visconti's greatest works. In its plot, it follows Prince Fabrizio Salina and his family as the changes due
to the Unification are beginning to affect Sicily. Much of the film, while portraying the noble family in this journey, discusses how the
noble class of the island accepts to resign itself to the not welcomed political changes. To this end, in order to assure that the status
quo is not disturbed and that the Salina family can continue to live with the standards to which is accustomed, it blesses the marriage of
its youngest man to a bourgeois woman, breaking the unwritten rule of never crossing socio-economical classes. Overall, the film focuses on
the historical context of Sicily as well as hints at its future with the rest of Italy discussing the lack of responsibility assumed by the
southern noble classes during the process of unification.
Historical Context
Italy was fragmented state after the congress at Vienna in 1815. The Unification of Italy happened from the 1850s until the 1870s when
various military and political events, known as “Risorgimento” or resurgence, happened throughout Modern day Italy. In the late 1840s,
Italian aristocracy and intellectuals wanted independence from the surrounding countries such as Austria, France, and Spain. Giuseppe
Garibaldi, sent to occupy the south of Italy from the first King of Italy Victor Emmanuel I, was the main character in adding Sicily
to the Kingdom of Sardinia thus making it a part of Italy in 1861. The unification concluded with the additions of Venice, Florence,
and finally Rome.
Ballroom/Waltz
The waltz is one of the most iconic dance styles. Brunetta states that the scene in the Leopard is a scene considered as one of the
most grandiose scenes in Italian cinema. It immediately immerses the viewer into the time-period with both costume and dance. The
short clip above shows the ballroom scene at the end of the film in which Angelica dances the waltz with the Prince. The waltz itself
is very elegant, grandiose, and one of the greatest of the social dance types. The waltz was considered scandalous in the 19th century
before becoming widely accepted and popular. It represented the spirit of the Romantic age and a break from prior social dances that
did not include this dance's accelerated speed and male-female embrace (Powers).
The Children Are Watching Us is a film that takes place in a middle class family in the 1940s and the Fascist regime. The film focuses
on a family and how the mother, Nina, breaks apart her family to run away with her lover. Despite her son being so young, the film
implies he can see a lot about what is going on despite how adults try to keep it from him. It keeps in touch with the ideas that a
fascist family needs to united and the wife needs to be the "angel of the heath" to insure the progress of the nation supporting her
children and husband. This film, however, is more of a social commentary rather than a propaganda film for fascism. There is no
specific dance move highlighted in this film, but rather shows how dancing was in the 1940s and how it was used in a social setting
among the middle and middle upper classes. In the scene shown, it shows Andrea and Nina dancing in a ballroom scenario while they
are on vacation.
Historical Context
This film is born in the end of fascism and just about the start of the Resistance war of Italy (1943-45.) On July 25th,
1943 the perspective of an Italian defeat in the WWII forced the King to dismiss Mussolini as a head of the government, and further
placed him in custody. As the King signed an armistice with the Allies, Hitler occupied Italy and had his troops rescue Mussolini,
who was placed as a head of the puppet regime of the Republic of Salò under German control. The Italian anti-fascist forces
comprising Socialists, Communists, and Christian Democrats, who were already politically present in the nation, organized the Resistance
war with the support of the Allies. Italian freed Italy with the Allies support and on April 25th, 1945 ending World War II in Italy
(Ginsborg).
A Special Day is a film that takes place in the middle of the fascist regime. This is a film of both finding passion,looking at the
normalcies, and challenging opposing ideas around us. The film follows Antonietta and Gabriele on the day Hitler visits Italy in 1938.
Both stay home for different reasons but bond over their internal defiance for the fascist beliefs (which Antonietta did now know she
had at first). Gabriele challenges Antonietta's beliefs
that all she could do be is to be a homemaker. In the end of the film, she decides she wants more than the fascist life expected
for her. Overall, light was shed on her condition of oppression.
Gabriele in return finds in Antonietta also acceptance of his humanity and his homosexual identity, considered inadequate by the
fascist regime and its ideal of manhood. By the end of the film he will regain a sense of self, just like Antonietta, in spite of
the Fascism beliefs.
Rumba
The Rumba is seen in the film at the beginning, when Gabriele and Antonietta meet in Gabriele's apartment. Gabriele has footsteps on
the floor to help with the general motions of the dance. The Rumba itself is native to Cuba circa in the middle of the 19th century.
The origins of the dance come from the people of Cuba wanting to defy and protest the slavery in the country at the time according to
Ingber. There is an interesting correlation of this history to the attitude put forth by the protagonists of the film. Both groups
wanted their freedom from the oppression they were facing. Lee, Rivera, & Won state that the Rumba was often connotated with its
sexual charge and known in the US as "the woman's dance." It seems interesting that of all the dances the director could have chosen,
this dance was an interesting choice due to its ties to both sexuality and freedom, which are important themes in the film.
This film, shot during the beginning of the First Republic, displays many elements relating to Neorealism themes. This film is an iconic
piece of Neorealism and of how Italy itself was on the verge of a change. It specifically represents the change in both women and
society itself. Bitter Rice is a film that takes place in the northern Italian region of Piemonte during the months when the women
would work the rice fields right after the war. The film shows the journey of Francesca trying to hide herself from the law that is
after her lover, Walter. Along the way she meets Silvana who becomes captivated by Francesca's life of adventure before Walter seduces
Silvana and ropes her into his scheme to make more money.
Boogie-Woogie
In Mass Culture and Italian Society from Fascism to the Cold War (2007) by Forgacs and Gundle talks about how the boogie-woogie itself
impacted dramatically old Italian customs. While partnering dances were always popular in Italy, there was nothing quite like the boogie-woogie,
as seen by Silvana in the film and in the video to the left. This was because traditional Italian dances often was very structured, and did not
have as much hip movement, which was scandalous for the culture that had a strong attention on family and sexuality expressed within this framework.
In a way, Bitter Rice embodied this change and showed how women were becoming more independent from Italy's patriarchal past. This dance
itself is iconic to this change and iconic for the film. Silvana in this scene embodies both the changes in women and even American influence
in Italy. The film clip shown here is Silvana while she dances the boogie-woogie in the beginning of the film. Di Paola discusses that the
boogie-woogie itself is a fast-paced swing type dance, which developed in the 1920s in the United States and was danced in social gatherings
until the 1950s, and it is commonly seen as a precursor of the rock-and-roll.
