Dir. Bernardo Bertolucci
1970, Italy, 111 min
Italian with English subtitles
In Mussolini’s Italy, repressed Marcello Clerici joins the Fascists in a desperate attempt to fit in. As the reluctant Judas motors to his personal Gethsemane (the assassination of his leftist mentor), he flashes back to a dance party for the blind; an insane asylum in a stadium; and wife and lover dancing the tango in a working class hall. But those are only a few of this political thriller’s anthology pieces. Bernardo Bertolucci’s masterpiece, adapted from the Alberto Moravia novel, boasts an authentic Art Deco look created by production designer Ferdinando Scarfiotti, a score by the great Georges Delerue and breathtaking color cinematography by Vittorio Storaro.
Newly restored in 4K from the original camera negative by Cineteca di Bologna in collaboration with Minerva Pictures under the supervision of Fondazione Bernardo Bertolucci.
It’s easy to overlook how stark The Conformist‘s political and allegorical message is because it’s just so damn beautiful.
– Vox
Bernardo Bertolucci is a master of turning harsh realities into free-flowing dreams and fantasies of sex and power into bracing, often uncomfortable moments of truth…The Conformist is perhaps his richest and most beautiful work.
– IndieWire
