The Conformist (1970)

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

Director:

Bernardo Bertolucci

Writers:

Alberto Moravia (novel), Bernardo Bertolucci (screenplay)

Stars:

Jean-Louis Trintignant, Stefania Sandrelli, Gastone Moschin

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 10 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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
Yvonne Sanson	...	Madre di Giulia
Milly	...	Madre di Marcello
Antonio Maestri	...	Confessore
Alessandro Haber	...	Cieco ubriaco
Luciano Rossi	...	Biondo cieco
Massimo Sarchielli	...	Cieco
Pierangelo Civera	...	Franz
Giuseppe Addobbati	...	Padre di Marcello
Christian Aligny	...	Raoul (as Cristian Alegny)

Storyline

This story opens in 1938 in Rome, where Marcello has just taken a job working for Mussollini and is courting a beautiful young woman who will make him even more of a conformist. Marcello is going to Paris on his honeymoon and his bosses have an assignment for him there. Look up an old professor who fled Italy when the fascists came into power. At the border of Italy and France, where Marcello and his bride have to change trains, his bosses give him a gun with a silencer. In a flashback to 1917, we learn why sex and violence are linked in Marcello's mind.

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Plot Keywords:

fascist | italy | professor | assassination | political assassination | 

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Taglines:

Starring Jean-Louis Trintignant, surpassing even his roles in "Z" and "A Man and a Woman".

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

Italy France West Germany

Language:

Italian French Latin Chinese

Release Date:

22 October 1970 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Conformist

Filming Locations:

Cinecittà Studios, Cinecittà, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Box Office

Budget:

$750,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$58,657

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$400,747

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mars Film, Marianne Productions, Maran Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min 108 min (first release) (international)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When Clerici asks the operator to connect him with Professor Quadri, the telephone number he gives is the (one-time) telephone number of Bernardo Bertolucci's idol Jean-Luc Godard. When Quadri answers the phone, Clerici recalls one of his lectures in which Quadri said "The time for reflection is over. Now is the time for action." This is the opening line in Godard's film Le Petit Soldat (1963).

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Goofs

When young Marcello shoots up Lino's room, the squibs are clearly visible in the walls before they explode.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Marcello: [to Manganiello on the phone] It's me, yes. Everything all right?
[pause]
Marcello: What do you mean, they're gone? You mean she's gone, too?
[pause]
Marcello: I'll be waiting in front of the hotel.
[hangs up]

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Alternate Versions

The "Dance of the Blind" sequence was restored for the 1994 re-issue of the film. This had been cut for the American release. Contrary to early reports, the DVD released by Paramount does include this scene.

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Connections

References Le Samouraï (1967)

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Soundtracks

Tornerai
(uncredited)
Music by Dino Olivieri

User Reviews

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.