The Conformist (Il Conformista) Review
By David Kempler
Stunning, but Overrated Conformist
Slashing, plus beautiful backgrounds
It was with great anticipation that I went to see the much-heralded "The Conformist." An Italian film made in 1970 by the great director Bernardo Bertolucci ("Last Tango in Paris," "The Last Emperor"), it is often compared to the Orson Welles classic, "Citizen Kane" as being a hallmark of the film industry within its country of origin. It has recently been re-released on a new print and I was primed to see it.
As a work of art, "The Conformist" is near perfect. Scene after scene is composed, lit, and shot in a way that one could imagine each one as a still photo hanging in the world's finest museums and galleries. However, movies must flow, with a coherent and believable story propelling it. It is only in the second half that "The Conformist" attains the greatness of all parts necessary firing on all cylinders.
Hit man Marcello Clerici (Jean-Louis Trintignant) holds our attention with his ultra cool detachment from the moment we first see him. His bride Giulia (Steffani Standrelli) plays her cardboard cutout part perfectly, but it is not until we meet the proverbial other woman, Anna Quadri (Dominique Sanda), that "The Conformist" starts to sizzle like other great gangster/political films. Once it does catch fire it is hard to look away. However, it takes an awful long time to get to that point. Up until then we are left to gaze upon as visually stunning a movie as one could ever hope to see, but only visually stunning, not intellectually stunning.
Clerici has been dispatched to assassinate Professor Quadri (Enzo Tarascio) and this is no big deal for Clerici, until he meets Mrs. Quadri. Then he hesitates, torn between love and duty. Eventually he decides the course he must take and the results are similar to the way "The Godfather" handled such problems.
"The Conformist" fills you with awe. Its appearance and Bertolucci's obvious talent is at times breathtaking, but as a movie it falls short. Great art, an emphatic yes. Great movie, sorry, it just isn't. After watching it I thought about all of the comparisons to "Citizen Kane" and to my surprise I agreed. At the risk of offending the elite of filmgoers, "Citizen Kane" also always struck me as great art, but an overrated film. The comparison is an accurate one.
