Il Conformista (1970)
Genre: Drama / Thriller
Duration: 111 minuten
Alternative title: The Conformist
Country:
Italy / France / West Germany
Directed by: Bernardo Bertolucci
Stars: Jean-Louis Trintignant, Stefania Sandrelli and Dominique Sanda
IMDb score:
7,9 (38.625)
Releasedate: 29 January 1971
Il Conformista plot
"A dazzling movie."
Marcello Clerici travels to Paris to assassinate Professor Quadri, an anti-fascist leader exiled to France. Marcello used to be his student and now Marcello must win Quadri's trust and trap him in the trap of Mussolini's followers.
Actors and actresses
Marcello Clerici
Giulia
Manganiello
Anna Quadri
Professor Quadri
The Colonel
Italo Montanari
Giulia's Mother
Marcello's Mother
Confessor
Reviews & comments
Film Pegasus (moderator films)
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- 31191 messages
- 5473 votes
I had already seen some of Bernardo Bertolucci's films, but this is his best film to date. Beautifully made with a style reminiscent of Jean-Pierre Melville. But Jacques Tati also has such a beautiful color palette. Better than most wartime movies. Since the photos were black and white at the time, I have no idea whether this approach gives an accurate picture. But it's nice to see anyway.
The film is a neo-noir with a dose of war, politics and thriller. This will mainly work as a book. The story is therefore less from the paint, and that partly has to do with the character. That's just a man who goes along with the policy to become a bit colorless and to make his own history forget. The film should therefore not really rely on the story, but the combination of the theme and cinematography make this a gem. The collaboration of director and cinematographer in the later works never has the same result.
Translated from Dutch · View original
De filosoof
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- 2486 messages
- 1697 votes
The film is about the very unsympathetic Marcello in Fascist Italy, who is essentially rather bohemian (and has some childhood traumas) but who - as the title betrays - has decided to conform, both in bourgeois morality (he is getting married) and in the fascist regime (and ultimately religious belief as well). The images are very nice and the beginning of the film is pleasantly mysterious but gradually the story becomes vague and long-winded with most attention being paid to the sexual tensions or quasi-partner swapping between the two couples in Paris.
In the middle of the film, Plato's myth of the cave – where people see only the shadows and not the things themselves – is told in what seems to be a central theme, now that Marcello's best friend is blind and Marcello in Paris says that the professor has his eyes opened although it is not clear to me for what other than that he wants the professor's wife. The film itself seems like a shadow play in the cave where we have to guess what is really going on (which, according to Marcello, also applies to politics in Italy): on the outside, Marcello just doesn't seem to be able to choose between fascism and anti-fascism and between marriage. and mistresses or even homosexuality (he lusts after Anna who reminds him of the man he had homosexual contact with as a boy).
The film is a thriller but is so vague and there is so much (read: constant) talking that there is not much tension. The film is special, perhaps even intriguing.
Translated from Dutch · View original
Alathir
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- 2133 messages
- 1638 votes
Second film I see by Bertolucci and this also failed to convince me. A pretty strong scene here and there, but all that political stuff woven around didn't appeal to me as much. It's also just too vague. Clerici is also a very distant man who never knows how to laugh. Little bond is made with the characters and humor/tension is absent. Clerici reminds me a bit of the attitude of Jef Costello in Le Samourai by director Jean-Pierre Melville, but the second one is a lot more interesting in terms of story.
Translated from Dutch · View original
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