Bertolucci’s sixth feature, based on a novel by Alberto Moravia, The Conformist is a thriller set in pre-World War II Italy, firmly in the grip of Mussolini’s fascist dictatorship. It is a devastating portrait of an upper class intellectual who collaborates with the regime out of anomie, his own sense of alienation. He agrees to murder a leader of the resistance, who happens to be his old college professor. This political drama is paradoxically shot in a lush, romantic style, executed by the great cinematographer Vittorio Storaro. Starring Jean-Louis Trintignant, Dominique Sanda, Stefania Sandrelli, and Pierre Clément. — Peter Biskind
“The Conformist [is] a sumptuous, emotionally charged experience… If anyone can be called a born moviemaker, it’s Bertolucci. Thus far, he is the only young moviemaker who suggests that he may have the ability of a Griffith to transport us imaginatively into other periods of history—and without this talent movies would be even more impoverished than they are.” — Pauline Kael, New Yorker
“There are excesses in the film, but they are balanced by scenes of such unusual beauty and vitality that I couldn’t care less.” — Vincent Canby, New York Times
“A great film, drunkenly beautiful and deeply disturbing.” — David Thomson, L.A. Weekly
directed by
Bernardo Bertolucci
Bernardo Bertolucci
written by
Alberto Moravia (novel), Bernardo Bertolucci (screenplay), Lee Kresel (written by: English version)
Alberto Moravia (novel), Bernardo Bertolucci (screenplay), Lee Kresel (written by: English version)
with
Jean-Louis Trintignant, Stefania Sandrelli, Gastone Moschin, Enzo Tarascio
Jean-Louis Trintignant, Stefania Sandrelli, Gastone Moschin, Enzo Tarascio
language
Italian, French, Latin, Chinese
Italian, French, Latin, Chinese
country
Italy, France, West Germany
Italy, France, West Germany
production company
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures