Il conformista (The Conformist)
1970
****
Director: Bernardo Bertolucci
Cast: Jean-Louis Trintignant, Stefania Sandrelli, Gastone Moschin, Dominique Sanda, Pierre Clémenti, Enzo Tarascio, José Quaglio, Fosco Giachetti, Yvonne Sanson, Giuseppe Addobbati, Milly, Alessandro Haber
In Mussolini’s Italy, Marcello Clerici joins the Fascist secret police and is assigned to assassinate his former philosophy professor, an anti-Fascist exile in Paris. The mission grows complicated when he becomes entangled with the professor's wife. Bernardo Bertolucci's adaptation of Alberto Moravia’s 1951 novel is an intriguing historical drama about a spineless coward desperate to fit in with the masses. Clerici and his story are beautifully constructed and psychologically complex, but they don't always make for an entirely captivating watch. However, Vittorio Storaro's stunning cinematography and Georges Delerue's beautiful score certainly help.
