Netflix's The Leopard needed more Colonel Bombello
- Cherish
- Jun 7
- 4 min read
Spoiler warning. This post discusses scenes from all six episodes of The Leopard.
As an ardent fan of longing glances in fiction, I was always going to love Colonel Bombello. He was introduced to us as a young idealist, a Count who left his life in Milan to fight with the forces of Garibaldi for a united Italy. Twice he stood up to the persuasive Don Fabrizio, and absolutely refused to allow him his annual pilgrimage to his castle in Donnafugata, for the simple reason that no one was allowed to leave the city, and he was not going to make exemptions. That only changed when the cunning prince got him desperate enough for a dance with Concetta. But, to the very end, Bombello was the one red shirt who expressed his unhappiness over the result of his side’s victory. Principled, dignified, with nerdy sexy professor glasses – as good a series The Leopard is, it would have been stronger had we heard more from the young Colonel.
This is not to say that I advocate for a Concetta-Bombello endgame. Concetta deserved far better than Tancredi, but she was a woman who gave her heart away a long time ago, and did not, could not, take it back. Bombello’s devotion to her would not have been enough to make her happy, or even content. Had she gone ahead with their marriage, she would have stewed in the guilt of marrying a man she did not love. Bombello who geeked out over frescoes at Don Fabrizio’s palace, who wanted to build a better Italy, deserved someone who could love him back, and as amazing as Concetta was, she was not healed yet from her Tancredi-shaped wound at the time of their parting. Ending the engagement was the right thing to do.
They were also two people who wanted very different things in life. Bombello was an idealist and a nationalist. He fought for Garibaldi because he genuinely believed in the cause. It was not made clear what it was he was doing in Milan after he left Garibaldi’s army, but I imagined that though his fighting days were over, he remained active in the nation building that was still in the early stages at that time.
Concetta, in contrast, was a true heir of her father. With his dying breath, Don Fabrizio tasked his favourite daughter with steering the family through the massive shifting tides of social change and, though it broke her heart – for this meant she would live her father’s life and not her own – Concetta agreed. When Concetta rode through their lands, with peasant farmers bowing their heads, that was a mirror of an early similar scene with Don Fabrizio. That was Concetta, dutifully continuing the tradition of Sicilian nobility.
So, as much as I enjoyed the longing glances, my wish for more Colonel Bombello is not about that. More of the character would have meant more exploration of the politics of the time. Though the aim was Italian unification, Garibaldi’s army was viewed by many Sicilians including the Prince as an occupying force. Bear in mind that The Leopard was set at a time when regional identities were far stronger than a shared ‘Italian’ one. What would Bombello, a Milanese Count, have seen and experienced as the leader of Garibaldi’s advance force? When the red shirts marched into the city, they were greeted with cheers. This was a mere two months after red shirts were lined up against the wall and shot. Seeing the brewing tensions from the point of view of the Colonel, who risked his life to be a liberator but was viewed as an occupier, would have been interesting.
After his marriage to Angelica, Tancredi switched his allegiances from Garibaldi to the King. Though by birth a part of the old order, Tancredi was among those who were jockeying for whatever advantages he could get in the new Italy. In his ambition he had a partner, his wife, who was even willing to pay for advancement with her body, in a heartbreaking continuation of what I imagined was a privileged-coated abusive upbringing she had from her corrupt, greedy, grasping father (I look forward to digging deeper into this in another post, time permitting). For his part, Tancredi had the trauma of proximity to wealth. His uncle the Prince loved him, doted on him, generously provided him with money, but that did not change the fact of his existence as a penniless aristocrat. He of the home in ruins. He who had nothing to offer his bride to be apart from his name and access to his wealthy, powerful relations. He gained money via his marriage but more than anyone, he knew how quickly money could disappear, having seen his father squander his mother’s fortune. For the privileged existence he had with Angelica to continue, he needed a position, connections, powerful friends. His allegiance shifting pragmatism was not attractive, but it was understandable.
Bombello for this part was not guided by personal ambition. He was not happy with the new government that he viewed as a compromise and not the new dawn that he fought for. The worst people (like Angelica’s father) were getting powerful government positions and using that to enrich themselves some more. An idealist slowly getting disillusioned after having fought in a war – after having killed – that would have given the series more weight.
The Leopard was a story of an aristocrat trying to steer his family through a revolution. Colonel Bombello was an aristocrat too, he just fought on the other side. Maybe I just really liked Alessandro Sperduti’s performance, but his was a character that could have used more screen time, and not just for more longing glances, though I really, truly, do not mind those.