Review of The Conformist (1971) by Bianca B — 27 Nov 2009

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. It is also about how this man conforms to what is considered normality.

Bernardo Bertolucci crafts a film with an interesting story that deals with suppressed homosexuality and so-called patriotism. His actors are quite good in their roles. But what makes this movie so intriguing to watch is the fantastic cinematography by the great Vittorio Storaro, who uses rich colors, authentic wardrobe of the 1930s, and a series of unusual camera angles and fluid camera movement. One scene that comes to mind is the scene where we first meet Giulia, the protagonist's fiancee, where she is wearing a striped dress and the blinds are casting a shadow throughout each room and the image of that is fantastic. Also the shots outside his mother's place were very influential on Francis Ford Coppola's Godfather films as well as Coppola's other films. He would also work with Coppola himself on Apocalypse Now 9 years later.

I believe this movie would be worth watching even if all that was great was the amazing and very influential cinematography but the film has a very good story. 10/10 a masterpiece.