Very best movie i ever watch

How sad is this?

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

In 1938 fascist Italy a newly married man takes his bride on a honeymoon to Paris. He's the son of intellectuals, his father is in an insane asylum, while his bride is middle class bourgeois. The situation sums up his predicament, that he's a bit of a sensitive intellectual who is caught up in Mussolini's violent political culture with a pretty new bride who seems oblivious to it all. It appears he joins the Fascists to get ahead in society but his allegiance is put to the test after he's given the assignment to assassinate on of his ex- professors, a disaffected intellectual who moved to Paris to escape the fascists. Thus the honeymoon takes a turn to the ominous side. The story in Paris unfolds, leading to the event taking place on a snowy winter afternoon in a forest. His target and the target's wife suspected him all along but befriended him, with the ex-prof's wife even seducing him. Thus the title refers to those who lived under fascism without necessarily embracing it, merely going along with the current in order to try to succeed within a brutal system and not be arrested, with the system testing this individual's commitment to the cause. Mussolini is overthrown towards the end of the film, and the protagonist leaves his apartment to watch the regime's fall and try to switch over to the non-fascists who comb the streets looking for collaborators to execute. Bertolucci explores Italy's fascist past by portraying how it played out with a classic cowardly non- protagonist who fails to rise to the occasion.

It's hard to describe this early work from Bernardo Bertolluci without using the word mesmerizing. This word fits the film in terms of both style and substance. The visuals never cease to be stylish and metaphorical. While the story never ceases to be engaging or thought-provoking. This is a story about a man who lets his political beliefs interfere with his personal life to the point where he does'not understand the difference between normalcy and fascism.Through a series of horrific events such such as killing his old friend and college professor as well as finding the man who molested him as a kid and who he thought he killed the main character learns that there is no such thing as a "normal life". Jean Louis-Trintinat is unbelievable as Marcello Clerci using restrained postures and facial expressions in order to fit in with the society of fascism. Vittorio Storaro's cinematography is gorgeous in capturing symmetrical architecture of both Paris and Rome. This Film is a must-see for fans of both Arthouuse and Italian cinema.

A study of how fascism can lead to murder, THE CONFORMIST is a slow-burning art-house flick that's undeniably well made by all involved. This is high brow entertainment indeed: understated, subtle, with plenty of meaning behind the dialogue to appeal to the intellectual crowd. Bertolucci also works hard to make this an atmospheric film, although as with a lot of 'arty' directorial work there's a certain coldness to this, a lack of empathy with the leading characters.Still, there are moments in THE CONFORMIST which are undeniably powerful, not least that powerhouse scene that takes place in the woods. This is one of the most shocking and upsetting sequences I've watched in a while, and it makes that slow burn all the more worthwhile. The cast give faultless performances and the technical values are proficient, but at times this is a film that seems to be slow just for the sake of it, more of an exercise in patience testing than anything else.

Why did a seemingly ordinary man in fascist Italy, in the late 1930s,volunteer to become a political assassin? This movie reflects on some of the key factors involved and also shows the reasons why he found his mission far more difficult than he originally expected. The assassin's story involves sex, politics, treachery and murder but also focuses on the psychological impact of his experiences in a series of flashbacks that brilliantly illustrate the types of incidents that contributed to the inner turmoil that made him the repressed and deeply dissatisfied man that he'd gradually become.With the help of his blind friend Italo (Jose Quaglio), Marcello Clerici (Jean-Louis Trintignant) becomes a secret police agent and volunteers to assassinate the leader of an anti-fascist group. The man in question is Marcello's former university professor Luca Quadri (Enzo Tarascio) who, because of his political views and activism, had exiled himself in Paris.Marcello had always felt an outsider because of his privileged upbringing and visits he makes to his father (who's in an insane asylum) and his morphine-addicted mother (who's having an affair with her chauffeur), leave him feeling even more troubled. An incident that happened in his early teens when a chauffeur tried to molest him, left Marcello haunted both by his initial response to the situation and also the fact that he'd shot his assailant. His desperation over these issues intensified the need in him to conform to society's norms so that he could become more fully accepted by others and thereby feel more normal.In an attempt to achieve the type of normality he craved, Marcello had become engaged to Guilia (Stefania Sandrelli), an immature middle-class young woman whose preoccupations clearly irritated him. His impending marriage gave him the opportunity to arrange a honeymoon in Paris and this in turn provided him with the pretext he needed to go to the French capital. When he makes contact with Quadri and his much younger wife Anna (Dominique Sanda), he quickly becomes filled with doubts about what he's doing because he can't help but respect his old philosophy mentor and also becomes obsessed by the bi-sexual Anna who he finds infinitely more fascinating than his own wife.Marcello's dilemma deepens as he recognises that if he doesn't go through with the assassination he'll have lost his best opportunity to fit in with the majority of other people and it's only through the influence of a fellow agent called Manganiello (Gastone Moschin) that the mission goes ahead."The Conformist" is a great movie in which the troubled intensity of its main protagonist is only equalled by its incredible visual impact. The beauty of its opulent, stylish interiors, its ornate furniture and the sheer scale of the marble interiors of the fascist headquarters make an indelible impression as does Vittorio Storaro's stunning cinematography. His inspired use of colour, some amazing visual compositions and tilted and overhead camera angles also add immeasurably to the experience of watching this film.There are a number of strong performances with Jean-Louis Trintignant predictably standing out. Ultimately, however, it's the story's subject matter that makes it so absorbing and the visual strength of the piece that makes it look so amazing.