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This is a movie that could be made in any era due to its timeless theme. Fascist Italy, however, is a perfect setting for "The Conformist" where as in all totalitarian states conformity is required, not an option. Jean-Louis Trintignant is perfectly cast as Marcello Clerici, a fascist assassin sent to Paris on a covert mission. Trintignant's slight figure, his humorless, unsmiling demeanor, and his consciously formal dress, including a hat that he cannot do without, project him as the perfect wannabe conformist.
Based upon a traumatic childhood experience Clerici not only has a need to conform he is impelled to take conformity to its extreme; assassinating non-conformists. His confession before his marriage is a brilliant scene and Trintignant's interaction with the confessor priest reveals the heart of his motivation and his sense of self.
His target is a former professor he admired as a student, Professor Quadri. The professor has left Italy for Paris due to his anti-fascist views and is viewed as dangerous by a mysterious arm of the fascist government. The scene where he discusses Plato's cave with the professor is worth the price of admission in itself.
Two beautiful women in his life represent the extremes that pull at his conformist soul as he proceeds toward the intended assassination. Stefania Sandrelli, as his wife Giula, represents the carefree, sensual, emotional part of his life. Dominique Sanda, as the professor's wife, Anna, represents sensuality of a different type. She appeals to his intellect as well as his sense of real love.
When Anna is formally introduced to Clerici as the professor's wife Clerici is stunned and aroused. Trintignant manages to convey both emotions with one look, the sign of a truly great actor. He has seen her in very different circumstances earlier in the movie. Anna provides the tension and inner conflict for Clerici which leaves the assassination of the professor in doubt.
Sanda is quite believable as a woman who could have that effect on a man in real life. One need not suspend a sense of disbelief to be convinced. Without her presence there would be no doubt about the assassination for Clerici. That tension and doubt results in a climactic scene that is stunning.
Bertolucci, in this 1970 release, is already displaying his trademark genius for visual beauty. Even scenes which are ugly are shot in an extraordinary cinema graphic style. His use of light, switching from black and white to color depending on the scene, shows real genius at work. The same cinematographer, Vittorio Storaro, who later collaborated with him on "The Last Emperor," was also a young man at the time of release. The "Special Features" where the two discuss their innovations in the use of color and light is almost as fascinating as the movie.
The "Special Features" also present very interesting insights into the artistic process in film and the dynamism of plot development. The only negative in this movie is that the flashback technique is overused to the point of confusion. All the other elements of the movie, though, show the promise of a great director at an early age.
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Customer reviews
Bertolucci's vision of fascist peer pressure
Reviewed in the United States on March 26, 2007
So desperate is Marcello, portrayed by Jean-Louis Trintignant ("The Outside Man") to lead a normal life after he suffers through the psychological trauma of a sexual confrontation with the family chauffeur (played by the bizarre Pierre Clementi) when he was a child. As an adult he eventually succumbs to the political upheavals of Hitler's Nazi machine during the 1930's and conforms to Prime Minister Mussolini's fascist regime of Italy. Working as an agent for the government he's assigned a mission to assassinate a college professor in Paris France whom Mussolini believes to be a threat to the fascist party. The murder is to take place while he's honeymooning with his newly wedded wife played to perfection by the lovely and charming Stefania Sandrelli ("Desideria"), and who manages to steal every scene she's in.While ploting the assassination in Paris he encounters a problem by falling in love with the professor's wife (Dominque Sanda, who also starred in Bertolucci's "1900"). Matters are further complicated not only by his attraction to the professor's wife, but his marriage as well as his (manufactured) loyalty to the fascist regime. The eventual ending indicates what the title is and what he's always been throughout his life. Lavishly shot by the brilliant Vittorio Storaro (Apocalypse Now & Last Tango In Paris), this is considered Bernardo (The Spider's Stratagem & The Last Emporer) Bertolucci's "breakthrough" film and perhaps his greatest acheivement in cinema as he was also nominated for an Oscar for his screenplay. This mesmerizing look at the social values of World War II Italy is not to be missed and remains one of the all-time great films of the 70's.olofpalme63
Reviewed in the United States on March 26, 2007
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Top reviews from other countries
R. Chapman
A deliciously rich, seductive, visceral and intoxicating experience..
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 13, 2017
Roberto56
I loved this when it first came out and I continue ...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 6, 2018MICHAEL O'KEEFE
Distinctive, if an acquired taste.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 27, 2016
