This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

Marcello, played by an impassive and stylish Jean-Louis Trintignant, is disgusted with his parents, contemptuous of his fiancée, and detached from his society. His sole desire is to feel like and pass as a normal person. He volunteers in a Fascist scheme against a former professor who is engaged in opposition activity in exile in Paris. While there, an attraction to the non-conformist and sexy wife of his professor and memories of a past he would rather forget complicate his plans.This is a movie where most of the main characters are sexy and cool and exciting, most of all the lead. Despite the supposition that Marcello is repressed and struggling to be as generic as possible, he comes across as self-aware, intense, and somewhat mephistophelian. Stephanie Sandrelli as his silly but well adapted to society wife and Dominique Sanda as his professor's intriguing, sexually liberated wife are both beautiful and entertaining. Despite that objectively the main character and his goals are ugly, the movie moves from one spectacular set piece to another amid an air of excitement.On the other hand, this is a film that seemed more impressive to me watching when fifteen years younger. The characters motivations often seem not so much mysterious as just not making much sense. Is Marcello supposed to be in love with the professor's wife or really a homosexual? Is she really attracted to him? And then, would Marcello really go around explicitly announcing his intentions all the time if he were so "repressed"? And for the film, too, maybe it would be better not to beat the horse so much? Then to the ideas that sexual repression cause fascism feel dated, and even more so the suggestion that it's all due to his being molested. There is the sense that we're less learning something about fascism or sexual psychology as we are participating ourselves in some confused sado-masochistic / spectacular turn on. The film is impressive but questionable if genuinely as deep as it passes for. It's a very enjoyable film that still encapsulates for me a lot of the excitement of cinema and would recommend to anyone who wants to watch a fun, cool film, but overall not really serious or a must-see except for its influence.

The career performance from JeanLouis Tringtingant as the 'conformist' of the Italian Gestapo defines this political drama along with the mastery work of mastermind Bernardo Bertolucci.It is simply a classic film in genre, very appealing to those who know their history of fascist Italy. Tringtingant portrays the confined movements and confidential mannerisms of the gestapo officer in such a fashion that it is unquestionably spot on.A powerful film, the Conformist is one that has very deep back stories, tying loose ends in the film and giving it another dimension. The watcher is engaged within the secret lives of many throughout this film.This is without doubt an enthralling political drama which is good study material and is quite realistic in multiple ways.

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.