Bernardo Bertolucci’s 1970 masterpiece, adapted from the 1951 Alberto Moravia novel, is a case study in conformism under a fascist regime. The film stars Jean-Louis Trintignant as Marcello Clerici, a conformist mid-level fascist functionary in Mussolini’s Italy who is ordered to assassinate his former professor, an antifascist dissident in Paris. The 4K restored version opens on April 25 in selected cinemas (see below).

Isn’t there something familiar here… Refusing to conform in today’s virulently Woke West risks career and social assassination by functionaries of the Woke – ‘assassins’ in our midst? At one stage Clerici is in the confessional and tells the priest, ‘I belong to an organisation that hunts down subversives.’ Antifa would welcome him … if only he weren’t such a square.

With music by the acclaimed Georges Delerue and the superb, underlit and ever inventive, dramatic cinematography of Vittorio Storaro (both in the process of making a name for themselves), it is a significant milestone of cinema. The film’s impact is due in large part to the work of these two creatives. Striking production design often evokes the period in grand flourishes, but almost every scene is astonishing in some way.

The strong, beguiling (and erotic) female supporting cast (Stefania Sandrelli, Dominique Sanda) is terrific and the great Trintignant is as wonderful as he was four years earlier opposite Anouk Aimee, in the world-sweeping romance, A Man and A Woman, directed by Claude Lelouch and featuring that unforgettable music by Francis Lai.

The political setting – on the eve of Mussolini’s departure – and the personal, often sensual, private story, told with cinematic class, reminds us of the power of the movies before being cancelled was a ‘thing’.

Bertolucci (1941 – 2018) went on to make other cinematic milestones, including Last Tango in Paris (1972) with Marlon Brando and Maria Schneider, and The Last Emperor (1987) with John Lone, Peter O’Toole and Australia’s Joan Chen. Bertolucci outraged Italy and was ‘cancelled’ for Last Tango in Paris (labelled obscene), losing his voting rights for five years. Talk about obscene! Simultaneously, he was nominated for an Oscar as was Brando.

Alberto Moravia (1907-90) was an Italian journalist, short-story writer, and novelist known for his fictional portrayals of social alienation and loveless sexuality. The Conformist is a good example. He was a major figure in 20th-century Italian literature.

THE CONFORMIST (1970) 1h 53m

From 25 April, 2024

Classic, Lido, Cameo & Ritz Cinemas

Tickets now on sale.

Andrew L. Urban was the editor of Australia’s award winning online movie magazine, Urban Cinefile, 1997 – 2017.

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