The Leopard (Il gattopardo, Luchino Visconti, 1963)

Movingly told through the decline of a Sicilian prince and the aristocratic order he embodies, Visconti’s sweeping epic stars Burt Lancaster in what the late actor regarded as his finest role, as well as Alain Delon and Claudia Cardinale. A clear influence on director Martin Scorsese, The Leopard concludes with a 45-minute ballroom sequence hailed by critic Dave Kehr as “one of the most moving meditations on individual mortality in the history of the cinema.” (186 mins., 4K DCP)