Between History and Imaginary: On Twentieth-Century Reconstructions of Risorgimento-Era Palermo in Viva l’Italia! by Roberto Rossellini and The Leopard by Luchino Visconti

Mattia Cinquegrani, Ph.D.

In the early 1960s, the city of Palermo – until then a largely marginal setting in Italian cinema – became the central backdrop for two major films that share significant points of convergence. Both produced in connection with the centenary of Italian unification, Roberto Rossellini’s Viva l’Italia! (1961) and Luchino Visconti’s The Leopard (Il Gattopardo, 1963) not only engage with the history of the Risorgimento but also depict, in parts of their narratives, the same historical events settled in the same locations. In both cases, these places are represented through a common commitment to restoring their historical authenticity. This aspiration, however, repeatedly confronts the profound topographical changes that had reshaped Palermo over time, and especially during those very years.
The project aims to investigate how these urban transformations influenced the cinematic representations of Palermo in the two films, while also examining the reasons behind the different solutions adopted by each director. At the same time, it explores how these representations, in turn, contributed to reshaping the city's image and its collective perception. To this end, the research focuses in particular on the relationship between the two films and the Palermo of the 1960s, whose urban fabric differed markedly from that of the nineteenth century. By examining the interplay between historical reconstruction, cinematic representation, and urban transformation, the project seeks to illuminate the reciprocal relationship between film and the cultural memory of place.