The Conformist (1970)

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Directed by Bernardo Bertolucci.

Starring Pierre Clémenti, Gastone Moschin, Dominique Sanda, Stefania Sandrelli, Jean-Louis Trintignant.

The conformist is 1930s Italian Marcello Clerici (Jean-Louis Trintignant), a coward who has spent his life accommodating others so that he can "belong." Marcello agrees to kill a political refugee, on orders from the Fascist government, even though the victim-to-be is his college mentor. The film is a character study of the kind of person who willingly "conforms" to the ideological fashions of his day. In this case, director Bernardo Bertolucci suggests that Marcello's desire to conform is rooted in his latent homosexuality. In addition to its strong storyline, the film is critically revered for the astonishing production design by Nedo Azzini, which, together with Vittorio Storaro's camerawork, recreates the atmosphere of Fascist Italy with some of the most complex visual compositions ever seen on film, filled with highly stylized uses of angles, shapes, and shadows. The Conformist was cut by five crucial minutes when first released in the US; those missing moments were restored in the 1994 reissue. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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Reviews and discussions

Re:Great Cinematography!
by leeroy711 in Best Cinematography In Film

liked it.

"I got into photography when I was in the junior high. I joined a couple of groups, took assigned artistic shots, learned about lighting, color, shutter speed etc.. I really loved still photography as an art and throughout high-school, I was on the newspaper and yearbook staff as a photographer. I think this is the reason that cinematography has always been the one aspect of motion pictures that has held the most weight for me. Well, I could talk about a lot of different shots and films. (Here's my list of good stuff) But, for my money, the discussion of my favorite example of great cinematography starts and ends with Apocalypse Now. This was probably the first film I ever fell in love with on an artistic level and it's unique in the fact that throughout the years, I have maintained a love for this movie. I can't really think of any movies that I first saw when I was in high-school and I still feel the same way about. The cinematographer in that film was Vittorio Storaro, who's had ... " [More]

liked it.

"I really liked The Conformist but I can see where you're coming from. I just have a thing for films with that particular backdrop.A few friends recommeded Children Of Heaven to me and for the life of me, I just couldn't really stand it. I thought it was dry and a little too strait forward in it's approach to story-telling. [/quote]I also liked The Conformist the best out of all my Bertolucci experiences. If you are a Sopranos fan you can see a lot of inspiration for Adriana's death from this movie. I always respect Bertolucci's eye for cinema but his characters are always too messed up for me - psychologically, emotionally, and especially sexually. He also doesn't seem to get that less is sometimes more. However, I will always respect him for his writing contribution to one of my favorite cinematic masterpieces - Once Upon a Time in The West. " [More]

liked it.

The Conformist review
by leeroy711 in leeroy711 Blog

liked it.

Was this review helpful? [Be the first to tell us!]
"**** out of 5 stars Directed By: Bernardo Bertolucci Starring: Jean-Louise Trintignant, Stefania Sandrelli and Gaston MoschinLanguage: Italian with English subtitles Released: 1970 Synopsis: The backdrop of this movie is Mussolini’s Italy in the 1930s. This is the story of Marcello (Trintignant), a man who has a life long affliction with sticking out in a crowd and is desperately trying to find normality in his life. Every action he is taking is an effort to blend in and be accepted. He is constantly regarded as an oddball because of his general demeanor and lack of emotion. He joins a group of secret fascist police, assigned to carry out assassinations and other dark deeds to individuals that are hurting their political cause. He even goes so far as to marry someone he regards as an unintelligent and mediocre young woman, Giulia (Sandrelli) in an attempt to further his ability not to attract unwanted attention. He is taking his new bride on their honeymoon in France w ... " [More]

movie year countdown #37 - 1970 ...
by Risselada in Risselada Blog

lost interest.

Was this review helpful? [Be the first to tell us!]
"This blog entry is part of my “movie year countdown”. To read more about that check out my first Spout filmblog entry.Il Conformista (The Conformist)There is some amazing cinematography and composition in this movie. I am still completely baffled by the scene where they are making love on the train with the sunset in the background. I have never seen anything like that in a movie before. Even with CGI now, it's just a composition of colors that just seems unattainable. I don't know how they did it.Apart from a number of absolutely stunning images like this, the rest of the movie was largely dull and alienating to me. I cared nothing from pretty much all of the characters. They all seemed distant to me.The movie seems so entrenched in a certain time and place and maybe even stuck in the mind of the filmmakers that perhaps I would have appreciated it more if my history was closer to that context. I do also understand that the Marcello is supposed to be sor ... " [More]

lost interest.

"I would like to add Bertolucci's The Conformist to this list. I'd never seen one of his movies and based on ratings from various sites, this seemed like one of the best ones to start with.I'll admit that the composition and cinematography of many of the shots was absolutly stunning. There were a few images I never could have even imagined, they were so amazing.But I cared nothing for any of the characters. Maybe if I had lived in Italy in that time and place it would have affected me, but really I couldn't have cared less for most of the movie.Anyone else who agrees with me?Anyone want to recommend anything by Bertolucci that I might like even if I didn't like this? " [More]

Movie year countdown viewing pr ...
by Risselada in Risselada Blog

lost interest.

Was this review helpful? [Be the first to tell us!]
"Here’s the dilemma. I have a list of well over three thousand movies I want to see saved on IMDB. I have a subscription to Netflix and recently every time I return a DVD it has been an extremely arduous task to make the decision as to which movie I should see next. In an effort to narrow down my choices and make the process of choosing slightly less overwhelming I have devised a system, almost a bit of a game for me. Here’s how it goes.For my first film selection, I have narrowed the options down to only films that were released in the year 2006. Then after I have watched that movie, my next selection would have to be a film released in 2005. Then I would see a film from 2004, then 2003, etc. The process of deciding is still laborious, but actually quite a bit more exciting. (I'm going by IMDB as my source for release years)I have already been making a list and have also already begun watching the films. I decided this might be a good time to start fooling ... " [More]

Review by All Movie Guide

All Movie Guide

loved it.

An international art cinema success, Bernardo Bertolucci's The Conformist (1970) turned the more straightforward Alberto Moravia novel into an elliptically subjective story about the psychological birth of a 1930s Italian Fascist. To show how Clerici is driven and entrapped by a past sexual trauma, Bertolucci cuts from Clerici's journey to kill his radical former professor to flashbacks embedded within flashbacks of his childhood, his marriage to dull bourgeois bride Giulia, and his blind Fascist mentor. Renowned visual set pieces, such as Clerici's visit to the Fascist headquarters and Anna's and Giulia's sensual tango, underline the connection between sexual decadence and Clerici's repressive conformism. Vittorio Storaro's lush cinematography lends further insight into Clerici's disturbed psyche, particularly through the imprisoning bars cast by the shadows of the venetian blinds in Giulia's apartment, matching her striped dress. Criticized by some for promoting a psychological explanation of Fascism over cultural, historical, or ideological ones, The Conformist was nonetheless lauded for its influential visual brilliance and complex narrative artistry; Francis Ford Coppola paid direct homage with an image of blowing leaves in The Godfather, Part II (1974). The 5-minute "Dance of the Blind" sequence cut from the original American version was restored in the 1994 reissue. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide

Tags: fascism , italy , masterpiece , dark , sublime
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