The Prince of Salina, a noble aristocrat of impeccable integrity, tries to preserve his family and class amid the tumultuous social upheavals of 1860s Sicily.

In the 1860s, a dying aristocracy struggles to maintain itself against a harsh Sicilian landscape. The film traces with a slow and deliberate rhythm the waning of the noble home of Fabrizio Corbero, Prince of Salina (the Leopard) and the corresponding rise to eminence of the enormously wealthy ex-peasant Don Calogero Sedara. The prince himself refuses to take active steps to halt the decline of his personal fortunes or help build a new Sicily, but his nephew Tancredi, Prince of Falconeri, swims with the tide and assures his own position by marrying Don Calogero's beautiful daughter Angelica. The climatic scene is the sumptuous 40-minute ball in which Tancredi introduces Angelica to society.—alfiehitchie

In 1860s Sicily, Don Corbera, the Prince of Salina, and his family have long lived a privileged life, largely isolated from the poverty of the masses because of the government corruption that pervades the island. The film traces with a slow and inexorable rhythm the waning of the noble family and the rise of the wealthy ex-peasant Don Calogero Sedara.—Huggo