URL
Lesson Introduction
Today's ItalianPod culture show is all about reunions. Join us as we talk about Italian history and the creation of the modern Italian state, travel in time with Gian Patrizio, and listen to a conversation about the beautiful Visconti film The Leopard.
Comments 
To comment, please login.
Comments Policy
Allowed comments do not necessarily represent the views of ChinesePod.com. We also reserve the right to reject personal attacks, false/unsubstantiated allegations, spamming of any kind, and comments that include vulgar language or libelous statements.
Out of consideration for our Newbie and Elementary users, English translations should be provided with any Chinese (characters or pinyin) written in Newbie and Elementary lesson discussion posts. New lesson idea? Please let us know on our contact page.
sonobono says
August 16, 2008
"Leopard" is translated as "leopardo" in my dictionary; although I really prefer "gattipardo"; is that spelled correctly?
Also, in Italian history, don't forget Garibaldi.
Ciao, Al
sonobono says
August 16, 2008
An online dictionary translates 'gattipardo' as ocelot.
user2048 says
August 16, 2008
The Leopard in another of my favorite movies. The casting of Burt Lancaster was controversial but I can't imagine the movie without him.
From Wikipedia:
"Despite being universally known in English as The Leopard, the original title Il Gattopardo actually refers to a serval. Although uncommon north of the Sahara Desert, one of the serval's few North African ranges is quite near Lampedusa. This animal is in the coat of arms of Tomasi's family.[1]"
Ciao.
catherinem says
August 17, 2008
Hey everyone!
User2048 is spot on here with the translation. Generally the film (and the homonymous book it's based on) are called The Leopard in English. I imagine this is because a book called The Serval just wouldn't sell as well to English-speaking audiences! Anyway they're both extremely important in the history of Italian literature and film (respectively) and can be found in stores as:
The Leopard, Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa (1958)
and the film:
The Leopard, directed by Visconti (1963).
Sonobono you're right about Garibaldi being hugely important in Italian history. He's got a piazza or a street or a statue in just about every Italian city...
mike52626 says
September 1, 2008
Catherine and Marco -
I have just caught up with all the Due Passi segments, and I'm sorry to see that now its over! I thought the program was good, and got better as it went along. I especially enjoyed the film discussions about the classics (La Dolce Vita, Cinema Paradiso), but even more, I appreciate the recommendations for new ones (Nuovomondo) that I am adding to my Nextflix queue. I think film has been one Italy's greatest contributions to world culture over the past 50 years or so - Italy has produced an amazing amount great cinema, especially for such a relatively small country.
I saw excerpts of Mediterraneo in my Italian class acouple of years ago. I have never been able to find the complete film, and unfortunately it does not seem to be available for rental in the US at this time. Whether you can buy (totally legal and authentic, cough cough) copies on the streets of Shanghai, I don't know!
I haven't seen The Leopard yet, but I'm looking forward to that one too.
I hope the new show is good, and that you find some opportunities for film recommendations there.
Mike
lunetta says
September 27, 2008
I've never seen the movie but Il Gattopardo is one of the best books that I've ever read and I can only recommend getting a copy of it.
I've only read it in the original 1958 version but a few years ago a new edition came out with a couple of new chapters that had been judged too risque for the 1958 edition. Has anyone read the new edition? What do you think about it?