The Conformist

Widely considered Bertolucci's greatest cinematic achievement, The Conformist is adapted from Alberto Moravia's novel. Its central character, Marcello Clerici (Jean-Louis Trintignant), is one of life's perpetual outsiders, a man so intent on proving his 'normality' (conformity) that he becomes an assassin for the Fascist secret police, travelling to Paris on his honeymoon to murder his old professor and, it turns out, the woman he has come to love.

Set in the 1930s, Bertolucci's study of Italy's Fascist past unfolds through a masterly juggling of past and present events, hinting at possible psychological motivations for Clerici's rationale - as a boy he suffered trauma at the hands of a homosexual - and revealing tensions in his current situation - through his visits to the insane asylum where his father resides and various episodes which underline the unsatisfactory nature of his marriage.

Where Bertolucci excels, however, is in his ability to compose images which impress both by their subtlety and their ability to communicate meaning: take for example, Clerici's appointment with his superior whose immense office is situated amidst a labyrinth of towering corridors. The monumental architecture and symbols of fascist might looming ominously over the dwarfed Clerici.

In addition Storaro's cinematography is immaculate. He and Bertolucci make an unbeatable team.

Cinematographer Vittorio Storaro: Storaro is one of very few cinematogrophers who have completely mastered colour; the meanings of colour; the themes of colour, any colour you like so long as it is Freudian. Held in high esteem not least by his principal collaborotors Coppola and Bentolucci, he is probably most famous for photographing Apocalypse Now; along with The Last Emperor and tonight's film it is probably his best work. His approach is naturalistic; but his style is still distinctive.

Review by Alan Smithee
Taken from EUFS Programme 1995-96