SERIE TV ITALIANE: The Leopard & Mussolini: Son of the Century
Two new Italian television series are currently gracing our screens: The Leopard, on Netflix; Mussolini: Son of the Century, on SBS On Demand. The first is based on a classic Italian historical novel, Il Gattopardo (The Leopard), by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, published posthumously in 1958 (Wikipedia article here); the second, is based on Antonio Scurati's 2018 novel: M: Son of the Century (M. Il figlio del secolo) [Wikipedia's article on Scurati here]. We haven't had the chance to watch either yet but the Easter holidays are just around the corner, so we'll undoubtedly do so then! Meanwhile, based on students' feedback,The Leopard  is very popular; Mussolini: Son of the Century, divides opinion; is quite violent; and is "edgier" stylistically. For The Guardian review of The Leopard, click here; for that of Mussolini: Son of the Century, here. Also, if you have the chance, do watch the utterly wonderful 1963 film adaptation of Il Gattopardo by Luchino Visconti, with a truly amazing Burt Lancaster sporting a truly amazing pair of basettoni, an impossibly beautiful Claudia Cardinale, and an impossibly handsome, envy inducing, Alain Delon! Youtube version below but try to watch it in high definition (available here) on a large screen as, to quote MoMA, it is "one of the most spectacularly lavish Technicolor films ever made". (Marzo, 2025)