The Conformist (1970) Il conformista (original title)

Director:

Bernardo Bertolucci

Writers:

Bernardo Bertolucci
Alberto Moravia (novel)

Release Date:

1971 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Bertolucci's Masterpiece about Sex and Politics [re-release]

Plot:

A weak-willed Italian man becomes a fascist flunky who goes abroad to arrange the assassination of his old teacher, now a political dissident.

Plot Keywords:

Fascist | Italy | Sex | Professor | Assassination

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 9 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Jean-Louis Trintignant	...	Marcello Clerici (as Jean Louis Trintignant)
Stefania Sandrelli	...	Giulia
Gastone Moschin	...	Manganiello
Enzo Tarascio	...	Professor Quadri
Fosco Giachetti	...	Il colonnello
José Quaglio	...	Italo
Dominique Sanda	...	Anna Quadri
Pierre Clémenti	...	Lino
Yvonne Sanson	...	Madre di Giulia
Milly	...	Madre di Marcello
Giuseppe Addobbati	...	Padre di Marcello
Christian Aligny	...	Raoul (as Christian Alegny)
Carlo Gaddi	...	Hired Killer
Umberto Silvestri	...	Hired Killer
Furio Pellerani	...	Hired Killer
Luigi Antonio Guerra
Orso Maria Guerrini
Pasquale Fortunato	...	Marcello bambino
Antonio Maestri	...	Confessore
Alessandro Haber	...	Cieco ubriaco
Massimo Sarchielli	...	Cieco
Pierangelo Civera	...	Franz
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Gianni Amico	...	Allievo Prof. Quadri (uncredited)
Joel Barcellos	...	Allievo Prof. Quadri (uncredited)
Christian Belegue	...	Gipsy (uncredited)
Benedetto Benedetti	...	Minister (uncredited)
Claudio Cappeli	...	Hired Killer (uncredited)
Romano Costa	...	Man opening the door (uncredited)
Marta Lado	...	Marcello's Daughter (uncredited)
Giorgio Pelloni	...	Allievo Prof. Quadri (uncredited)
Luciano Rossi	...	(uncredited)
Gino Vagniluca	...	Secretario (uncredited)

Directed by
Bernardo Bertolucci

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Bernardo Bertolucci
Alberto Moravia		novel

Produced by
Giovanni Bertolucci	....	executive producer
Maurizio Lodi-Fè	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Georges Delerue

Cinematography by
Vittorio Storaro

Film Editing by
Franco Arcalli

Production Design by
Ferdinando Scarfiotti

Set Decoration by
Osvaldo Desideri		(uncredited)

Costume Design by
Gitt Magrini

Makeup Department
Franco Corridoni	....	makeup artist
Rosa Luciani	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Serge LeBeau	....	production manager
Aldo U. Passalacqua	....	production supervisor
Mario Cotone	....	production supervisor (uncredited)
Nicola Venditti	....	production supervisor (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Aldo Lado	....	assistant director
Alain Bonnot	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Paolo Finocchi	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Nedo Azzini	....	assistant art director

Sound Department
Mario Dallimonti	....	sound
Franco Bassi	....	sound mixer (uncredited)
Guido Giogucci	....	sound re-recording mixer (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Giuseppe Alberti	....	assistant camera
Enrico Umetelli	....	camera operator
Alberico Novelli	....	electrician (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Piero Cicoletti	....	assistant costumer

Editorial Department
Vincenzo Di Santo	....	assistant editor
Giancarlo Venarucci	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Georges Delerue	....	conductor

Other crew
Loredana Pagliaro	....	production secretary
Flavia Sante Vanin	....	script girl
Pietro Sassaroli	....	administrator
Attilio Viti	....	production secretary
Sergio Graziani	....	voice dubbing: Jean-Louis Trintignant (uncredited)
Rita Savagnone	....	voice dubbing: Dominique Sanda (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Mars Film (as Mars Film Produzione S.p.A., Roma)
• Marianne Productions
• Maran Film (participation) (as Maran Film G.M.B.H. di Munchen)

Distributors

• Paramount Films of Italy Inc. (1970) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Paramount Pictures (1971) (USA) (theatrical)
• Paramount Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD) (remastered version)
• Cinema International Corporation (C.I.C.) (1972) (Japan) (theatrical) (English short version)
• Cinema International Corporation (CIC) (1971) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Cinema International Corporation (CIC) (1971) (France) (theatrical)
• Euro Space (1996) (Japan) (theatrical) (remastered complete version)
• Rosebud (2008) (Greece) (theatrical) (re-issue)
• Amuse Video (1997) (Japan) (DVD)
• Cesáreo González Producciones Cinematográficas (1975) (Spain)
• Homescreen (2010) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Video (2006) (Canada) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Video (1982) (USA) (VHS) (English short version)
• Raro Video (2011) (Italy) (DVD)
• Suevia Films - Cesáreo González (Spain)
• Suevia Films (1975) (Spain)

Other Companies

• Valentino Bompiani  book publisher: "Il Comformista"
• Fono Roma  sound post-production
• Westrex Recording System  recording system (as Westrex Recording)
• Centro Doppiaggio Televisivo (CDC)  dubbing (as C.D.C.)
• Lucherini/Rossetti/Spinola/Scalera  publicity (as Lucherini-Rossetti-Spinola)
• Warner / Chappell Music  music publisher (as edizioni CHAPPEL S.p.A.)
• Technicolor  color by
• Tirelli Costumi  costumes (as Tirelli)

Also Known As:

"Il conformista" - Italy (original title)

Runtime:

107 min | 111 min (1995 Restoration)

Country:

Italy | France | West Germany

Language:

Italian | French | Latin

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Singapore:M18 | West Germany:18 (f) | UK:15 (2007 re-rating) | Argentina:16 | Peru:18 | Finland:K-15 (new rating: 2001) | Italy:VM14 | Australia:MA | Finland:K-16 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | USA:R | UK:X (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Gare d'Orsay, Paris 7, Paris, France

Company:

Mars Film

Trivia:

The Latin phrase recited by Clerici on his way to kill the Quadris was "Animula, vagula, blandula, hospes comesque corporis", the first line of a poem attributed to the Roman emperor Hadrian.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Manganiello is driving Marcello around, the windshield wipers are on in the close shots, but off on the long shots.

Quotes:

Anna:[to Marcello] You're only a worm. You revolt me. You're disgusting!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Dream Slashers (2007) (V)

One of the greatest films ever made.

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.