As an avid film fan, I am always thinking about films that capture me, motion pictures that have remained etched in my mind. Bernardo Bertolucci’s 1970 political-drama ‘Il Conformista’ (1970) captures, in rich cinematography, the alienation of Marcello Clerici (Jean-Louis Trintignant): a man who subscribes to Italy’s Fascist politics and culture by agreeing to kill off Professor Quadri, a French-based, anti-Fascist Italian intellectual whom Marcello previously studied under. Marcello’s willingness to align himself with his country’s own grim politics is a futile attempt on his part to fit in with a society that is torn by war, cluttered with disillusioned citizens and masked by stunning physical artifice. Bertolucci’s feature still resonates with audiences forty years on for reasons other than just visual mastery. In a similar way to how Nanni Moretti self-reflexively critiques right-winged Italian politics in his films today, Bertolucci examines flaws and symptoms of Fascist psychology through his characters and a left-winged lens. Unlike past Italian film heavyweights, such as Pasolini and Visconti, Bertolucci vigorously exercises his left-wing political beliefs, in conjunction with narratives of Freudian psychoanalysis and isolation. The film’s thematic depth and optical richness make it a near-perfect picture. Cinematographer Vittorio Storaro won the American National Society of Film Critics award for best cinematography for his work on ‘Il Conformista’. He gives the film an intense sense of visual poetry.
Trintignant is sublime as Marcello Clerici: numb, shadowy, ghostly. Childhood trauma and existential crisis ignites his quest for normalcy. He drifts through Bertolucci’s artwork with an overwhelming sense of loss, sexual complexity and moral ambiguity. Bertolucci gives us a character that dances on the line between cowardice and bravery. Gastone Moschin as Manganiello, Clerici’s co-assasin, however, is less complex. Manganiello is beastly, unforgiving and ghastly in his treatment of Mussolini opponents. Whilst there is little to like about Manganiello’s character, there is much to like about Moschin’s performance, which embodies the grotesqueness of 1930s Italian Fascist politics. In contrast to the male characters, Bertolucci’s women are beautiful, but they too are flawed. Stefania Sandrelli as Clerici’s partner, Giulia, is ditsy, ultra-conventional and dependent. Her character may chafe on audiences, but Sandrelli delivers the annoying qualities of her character well. Anna Quadri (Dominique Sanda), Professor Quadri’s wife, to the contrary, mirrors Marcello’s aloofness, melancholia and alienation more overtly than Giulia in Bertolucci’s narrative. Both Marcello and Anna have become emotionally mechanical under Mussolini’s regime, a political message that still resonates with viewers forty years on.
‘Il Conformista’ remains a moving piece of art. Bertolucci continues to stand strong as a formidable filmmaker in world cinema. He breathtakingly adapts and retells a tale about trauma, politics, cultural restriction and the impact all three have on human psychology in 1930s Fascist Italy. Even though the film is turning forty this year, this is – without doubt – the film that made me love film.
(5/5)
DVD Extra: Three featurettes produced for the extended edition: “The Rise of The Conformist: The Story, The Cast”, “The Conformist: Breaking New Ground” and “Shadow and Light: Filming The Conformist”.
Il conformista
(Italy, 1970, 107 min, drama)
Director: Bernardo Bertolucci
Actors: Jean-Louis Trintignant, Stefania Sandrelli, Gastone Moschin, Enzo Tarascio, Fosco Giachetti
Writers: Bernardo Bertolucci
Editor: Franco Arcalli
Cinematography: Vittorio Storaro
Production Design: Ferdinando Scarfiotti
Music: George Delarue
Producers: Giovanni Bertolucci, Maurizio Lodi-Fè
DVD Details
Format: Color, Dolby, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Language: French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono), English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono), Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono), Portuguese (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono), Italian (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)
Subtitles: English, Spanish, Portuguese
Region: Region 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
US Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Paramount
US DVD Release Date: December 5, 2006
Popularity: 16% [?]
