The Conformist (1970)

Story of a weak-willed Italian man (Jean-Louis Trintignant) who is ordered, in 1938, to assassinate his one-time professor. He is ordered by a Fascist organization he joined to become normal, to conform (he's gay and ashamed of it). He takes his annoying wife (Stefania Sandrelli) with him...only to find his professor has married a former love of his (Dominique Sanda). Can he kill them both? This film is just riveting. The story is never boring and full of some very intriguing people. The acting is superb--especially by Trintignant who you see holding his fear and indecision inside and Sanda who is unbelievably sexy...and dangerous. I don't know much about politics so I'm not going to discuss that.

But this film is a must-see for the incredible cinematography by Vittorio Storano and masterful direction by Bernardo Bertolucci. The sets are exquisite--every single one looks incredible and is beautifully lit and shot for maximum impact. Sometimes I was just so caught up in the visuals I lost track of the story! Every shot is filled with rich symbolism. My favorite sequence was at a dance hall when Trintignant is "caught" in the dance. Also some prints are missing a 10 minute "Dance of the Blind" that was cut from original prints. It's no loss--it adds nothing to the story.

Quite simply one of the most beautiful films I've ever seen with a strong, intriguing plot. A powerful must-see film. A 10 all the way.

Fmovies: It's a fascinating blend of tense character study, torn love story, and a background loaded with subtext and history that writer/director Bernardo Bertolucci brings with The Conformist. But through the entire length of the film, even if you're not totally vested in interest in the main character (who, indeed, is meant by design not to be a 'likeable' protagonist), the look of the film, its sweep and style and what most great movies do- sucking you in on the side of composition, mood, and music- is worth recommending.

The film stars Jean-Louis Trintignant, an actor with a cool exterior but something very uneasy underneath the surface in almost all of his scenes (which perfectly suits the character he plays). Based on Alberto Moravia's novel of the same name, Marcello Clerici is a fascist, or at least part of the fascist 'clique' of sorts in late 1930's Italy. He's a secret officer who gets assignments to track people down and either kill, or collaborate as it were. He has some skeletons in his closet, to be sure, and in one of the most striking and powerful scenes of the film, he recalls a particular incident in his youth that stayed with him, if only in the back of his mind (I won't reveal it, but it comes as something of a shock, not so much in its outcome, but how Bertolucci approaches directing the scene with the Chauffeur and the kid).

Going along with this sort of 'clique' that Marcello sticks in, he has a young wife, who loves him but is not really his equal on any sort of intellectual or even emotional basis. The actress playing her, Stefania Sandrelli, conveys this mostly 'ignorance is bliss' attitude that helps the film allow some lighter-than-air moments (i.e. the 'Dance of the Blind' sequence, a masterstroke to be sure). For some reason or another, which does become more obvious as the story goes along (and ties into this non-linear structure Bertolucci works with intelligently), Marcello seeks out and visits his old Professor, an anti-fascist, and his beauty of a wife, whom he becomes somehow smitten with (the two character actors in the parts, Enzo Tarascio and Dominique Sanda respectively, hit all the right notes, even with the subtext of scenes).

After the sort of climax to all this, we move ahead several years later, when Mussollini is gone from power, and there is one last scene with Marcello that really made me sit up and take notice. I'm sure Bertolucci was fairly faithful to the original text (having not read it I can't say for certain), but he keeps a challenging ending for the audience- a lessor filmmaker might have Marcello come to some kind of clean-cut catharsis in the wake of the end of fascism. Bertolucci doesn't have that, and he and Trintignant keep it true to the character and his personality, which sort of brings to a head not so much a story resolution, but just one of something simpler about society- what does this sort of upper-class conditioning do to a person after a while, especially if there is this certain level of detachment that Marcello has. In the end, he's truer to the film's title than anything of his own real 'beliefs'.

But going aside from the solid philosophical &/or political debate that could go on from the themes raised in the film, going back to the pure film-making aspect of The Conformist, one can sort of sense this as being like a 'test-run' of sorts for Bertolucci to work solely with the masterful Italian cinematographer Vittorio Storaro (of

I have been a fan of Bertolucci for quite a while now - his recent films like "Stealing Beauty" and "The Dreamers" make my all-time favourites' list, while his acclaimed "The Last Emperor", which I saw years ago, didn't make me a great impression: it was definitely a well-made epic, just didn't fascinate me like some of his other films. Same thing with his controversial "Last Tango in Paris": other than Marlon Brando's devastating performance, which will always be a must-see for those who admire raw acting, the film's daring (for its time) approach to sexuality is now outdated, and the film is rather dull in its apparently liberal speech (the fact that I'm not exactly a Maria Schneider fan doesn't help). And last night, I finally watched the extraordinary "The Conformist", arguably his masterpiece and undoubtedly one of the greatest films ever made.

Based on a novel by Italian author Albert Moravia (who also wrote the novel that inspired Godard's "Contempt"), "The Conformist" is the story of a closeted homosexual, Marcello (Jean-Louis Trintignant) who becomes a fascist yes-man, marrying a clueless girl, Giulia (Stefania Sandrelli) and going to Paris for their honeymoon. Marcello's bosses ask him to kill his old college mentor, Quadri (Enzo Tarascio), an anti-fascist who fled Italy to live in Paris with his young, beautiful and idealistic wife, Anna (Dominique Sanda). Anna and Marcello are former lovers, but that's not the only pitfall in Marcello's plan, nor is it stronger than his tragic conformism to an exacerbated political regime and the fear of living as a "pederast"/having his homosexuality made public.

The political factor is an open part of the plot, while Marcello's sexuality is very ambiguous (he seems to have real feelings for Anna, yet a childhood trauma and a homophobic attitude show his tragic character formation). "The Conformist" works as a riveting political thriller and a haunting character study, and it's impossible to praise this film without mentioning Vittorio Storaro's breath-taking cinematography, possibly his greatest (and that's saying a lot) and certainly one of the very best in film history. The whole film is so beautifully shot that every scene seems to be taken out of a painting; it could perfectly be photographed now rather than 38 years ago and it wouldn't look any better. The performances are all magnificent, particularly Trintignant, Sandrelli and Sanda, each perfectly portraying blind rage, ignorance and idealism, respectively. All in all, as close to perfection as film-making gets, and as timeless as its main themes (politics, conformism and sexuality) - if you think this couldn't happen today, take a look around and tell me how many gay Republicans you know?

10/10.

The Conformist fmovies. Bernardo Bertolucci's stunning early-1970s classic looks absolutely beautiful nearly forty years later. It tells the story of a fascist in 1930s Italy who is assigned to root out and assassinate anti-fascists. As the story develops, we learn that a childhood event played a large role in shaping this man's perception of himself, and that the life he is leading is largely a lie.

The story Bertolucci tells is odd and compelling, but what kept me glued to the television screen was the film's mesmerizing visual style. Bertolucci collaborated with cinematographer Vittorio Storaro, and it's not an exaggeration to say that they create some of the most beautiful images I've ever seen in a film. One might expect Bertolucci to adopt a sombre color palette for telling such a gloomy story, but that's not the case. On the contrary, he opts for lush colors, striking contrasts, and stylized lighting to create a slightly surrealistic environment that's one small step removed from reality as we know it.

A truly remarkable movie.

Grade: A+

What is most amazing about The Conformist is it's cinematography and angles.

Director Bertolucci and Cinematographer Storraro have created a masterpiece of form by using light, camera angles, and character positioning.

The architecture dwarfs the characters as they try to make sense of their existence during Italy's fascist period (1930's). They are placed theatrically at times creating a balance of space.

The Conformist is the most stunning film visually I have ever seen. Every scene is immaculate, kind of surreal, almost to rich for the senses to take in one viewing.

The story is somewhat difficult on the first viewing but one can figure the basic plot line. It is a story about repression and oppression, about nationality, political beliefs during a paradigm shift. It is about acceptance and avoidance. It is about playing it safe in a time of tension.

The final scene suggests what the main character might have become had he chose the truth. It is left up to us to judge him and realize that it is sort of a catch 22; either way, he would have ended up in that dark place where a fascist country would mentally place same sex love.

See this film to see the potential of the beauty of film.

Conform or not to Conform? That is the Question.

This is one of few films in which every artist's performance peaks and falls into place: Trintignant (Z (1969), le Secret (1974)) at his best, Bertolucci's best picture so far, and Vittorio Storaro's best cinematography (besides Apocalypse Now). Their cooperation seems to pay off very well (Novecento (1976), Last Emperor (1987)) as they apparently enhance each other's work. With their brilliance they almost turn Marcello into a hero, while he is actually an anti-hero in this non-linear story. It's not only an entertaining personal tragedy, it's also a political thriller with very distinctive music. I couldn't imagine life without Il Conformista anymore (like Amarcord and some other masterpieces).

Always beautiful, never sentimental: poetic from minute to minute. The compositions, lighting and camera-movements made me breathless: I've never seen so much poetic power in one film. Watch for instance the camera's movement to behind the tree when Manganiello searches for Marcello in the small park @ 68 min. And for instance the hand-held scene near the end. Or the camera placements when Marcello comes approaches his mother's house. Actually the entire film is a big poem. See for yourself :-)

I was lucky enough to see this one in a theater just two months after seeing it first (dec 2000). If you have the chance, go see it on a big screen. If you like the looks of this you will probably like 'Una giornata particolare' (1977) and 'Amarcord' (1974) too.

Why o why can't we vote 11 :(