The Leopard: Is the Netflix Show Based on a True Story?

Richard Warlow’s Italian historical drama ‘The Leopard‘ (also known as ‘Il Gattopardo’) presents a thrilling story about an aristocratic family who finds themselves in the middle of 19th-century Sicily’s shifting socio-political tides. The Prince of Salina, Don Fabrizio Corbera, and his family are surrounded by wealth and luxury, while his neighbors suffer under the revolutionary fight for the unification of the kingdom of Italy. Even though the nobleman would like to think the rebels and their revolution will pass, it eventually knocks on his door—not least because of his own beloved nephew, Tancredi’s idyllic involvement with Garibaldi’s Red Shirts army.

As a result, Fabrizio must play the political game, forging connections and securing alliances with the new fortune favored, such as Sedara. However, his favorite daughter, Concetta, and her happiness become unwitting collaterals in this lethal game. The Netflix show effectively transports the viewers to the tumultuous landscape of 1860s Italy, charting its way through narratives that revolve around period-typical aristocracies, society, and politics. As a result, the Corbera family and their ties to off-screen history remain a point of intrigue.

The Leopard is Based on Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa’s Classic Novel

‘The Leopard’ offers an elaborate and extensive peek into the socio-political dynamics that overtook Sicily—and Italy, at large—during the 19th century. Even so, the show remains a work of historical fiction. It adapts Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa’s eponymous work, one of the most celebrated Italian novels of its time. The book, published posthumously in 1958 with the original title ‘Il Gattopardo,’ is a blend of fact and fiction. It undertakes the narrative of an aristocrat whose way of life is turned upside down with the arrival of General Giuseppe Garibaldi’s revolution in Sicily during the 1860s. While the historical context around this tale remains rooted in Italy’s actual history, the central characters, including the Salina Prince Fabrizio Corbera, are mostly fictitious elements.

As revealed by the author’s correspondence to a friend, Tomasi came up with Fabrizio Corbera’s character and storyline with inspiration from great-grandfather Don Giulio Fabrizio Tomasi, the 8th Prince of Lampedusa. From his build, temperament, and family life to even political decisions, the real-life Prince of Lampedusa influenced numerous aspects of Corbera’s literary self. Furthermore, many aspects of the fictional family and their narratives were directly inspired by real-life people from Tomasi’s ancestral kin. Yet, over the course of the writing, the character also ended up inheriting several traits from the author himself. Much like his ancestors, Tomasi was also a Prince of Lampedusa—the 11th of his family. Consequently, he, too, shared the unique psychological quirks and burdens of his novel’s protagonist.

Similarly, other characters, including Father Pirrone and the idealist Tancredi, retain partial counterparts in reality who inspired their characterizations. Notably, the beloved nephew shares many commonalities with Gioacchino Lanza Tomasi, the author’s cousin-turned-adopted-son. Still, a level of separation remains between Tomasi’s work and real life, cementing the latter only as an influential inspiration behind the work. For the same reason, while Tomasi’s characters and their storylines benefit from the founded truth of their historical counterparts, their own roots in real life remain unsteady. As such, the novel as a whole is only partially inspired by reality, simultaneously sustaining many instances of fictionalization.

The Leopard Highlights Italy’s Socio-Political Complications During the 1860s

Most primary characters within ‘The Leopard,’ who contribute toward the central story in meaningful ways, are fictitious with varying levels of real-life inspirations behind them. However, some of the characters and the overarching setting of the tale find concrete historical backgrounds. The story takes place in the 1860s, a time of rapid social and political change in Sicily’s history. At the time, the Unification of Italy, or Risorgimento, was unraveling in full force. In 1860, Giuseppe Garibaldi took over Sicily, merging it with the growing Kingdom of Sardinia. Around the same time, the Sicilian nobility also neared their deposition.

Consequently, the kingdom saw a notable change in the reality of aristocratic luxury and opulence as their way of life slowly dwindled and diminished. Through the narrative of Fabrizio Corbera, a respected name in Italian socio-politics, ‘The Leopard’ presents a fascinating and realistic exploration of this phenomenon. The authenticity of this transitional period is effectively conveyed through the clashes between the Prince of Salina and his new peers, including Tancredi, who rise through the ranks of Garibaldi’s army. As a result, the book delivers a nuanced examination of the era-appropriate class conflict, social and political revolution, as well as cultural subversion. Thus, even though the details of the novel retain a level of fictionality, it offers a stirring, historically authentic tale.

Richard Warlow Offers a Faithful Adaptation With Some New Changes

Giuseppe Tomasi’s ‘The Leopard’ is one of the best-selling Italian novels and is considered to be one of the most important contemporary works of its time. In 1963, filmmaker Luchino Visconti took on the herculean task of adapting the novel for the screen in his similarly titled film, which went on to receive an Oscar nomination. Therefore, when it came time for Richard Warlow and his team to undertake the same task, this time in the format of a series, they had big shoes to fill. The creator saw the parallels between the themes explored in his show and real life, where many cultures seem to be undergoing massive socio-political transitions. Therefore, he focused on the same connection to build a bridge between the on-screen narrative, history, and the contemporary audience.

On the other hand, Tom Shankland, who directed several episodes of the show, maintained a personal connection to Tomasi’s work, which helped him bring the author’s words to the screen. The director’s father, a university professor of Italian in England, held ‘The Leopard’ in great esteem along with other Italian literary classics. Furthermore, he took Shankland and his siblings on many childhood trips to Sicily. Thus, the latter had a previously forged connection with the source material as well as the island whose history it examines. Ultimately, these connections affected the creation of the show.

Additionally, while Warlow and his team wanted to maintain the authenticity of Tomasi’s novel and his characters, they were also eager to introduce new changes to the show. As a result, the on-screen narrative makes certain departures from its literary counterpart without deviating from the spirit of the novel or Sicily’s history. The most notable example of this remains the storyline of Concetta, Fabrizio Corbera’s beloved daughter, who takes a unique center stage in the adaptation. Consequently, while retaining its connections to history and literature, ‘The Leopard’ also manages to forge its own path, creating a distinct identity for itself.