The film was produced in the 1960s and was shot with a 70mm camera
. In terms of props, silk porcelains with real textures are used, together with costumes, antique furniture, tall walls, empty houses, and numerous actors to create a magnificent historical scene
. In terms of editing, director Visconti used several large passages to show the street fighting scenes of the Gallibaldi Revolution
; the closing passage took nearly an hour (about 50 minutes) to show a dance party, which is rare in the history of film
.
The actual length of "IL Gattopardo" is 185 minutes, but it was only 161 minutes when it premiered
in Germany; it was not allowed to release the full version in Germany until 1979, and
the edited version that won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival lasted 205 minutes.
In 1990, under the supervision of cinematographer Giuseppe Rotunno, the Italian version of the film was restored, but the longest copy was still only 187 minutes
.
