Sex, politics and violence are all connected in this 1970 drama from Oscar-winning Italian filmmaker Bernardo Bertolucci. Based on the...
Sex, politics and violence are all connected in this 1970 drama from Oscar-winning Italian filmmaker Bernardo Bertolucci. Based on the novel by Alberto Moravia, which Bertolucci fashioned into an Academy Award-nominated screenplay.
"Basically, it’s the story of a coward," says Variety "one of the thousands (millions?) who have, for self-aggrandizement or mere safe-playing self-preservation, ‘conformed’ to the transient ideological dictates of their times. Marcello (Jean-Louis Trintignant) is such a coward. Just married (also a compromise), he’s sent to Paris by the Fascist espionage organization he’s joined and ordered to murder a leftist political refugee he once studied under in college, but procrastinates, his mind riddled with doubts and fears, his body attracted by the intended victim’s pretty wife who, possibly to save her husband’s life, seduces both Marcello and his bride."
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Where to watch The Conformist
98 %59 reviewsRotten Tomatoes® rating
90 %8,848 reviewsAudience score rating
"Windup is likewise redundant, and the weakest factor in an otherwise very satisfying powerful film."
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Variety
Variety"Probing, unsettling and visually compelling, The Conformist treats its audience as adults, never opting for easy closure."
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Total Film
Total Film"Beautiful, idea-laden and thrilling film noir..."
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Time Out
Time Out"Visually lush... Stylistically exhilarating... It is a pity that the scenario cannot quite meet the demands of the mise en scene..."
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Time Magazine
Time Magazine"In a story full of treachery, cowardice and sexual decadence... the movie remains uplifting for its breathtaking style."
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The Washington Post
The Washington PostThe Conformist | Details
- Rating
- 15, Contains moderate sex, sex references, nudity and violence
- Runtime
- 108
- Genre
- Drama
- Country of origin
- Italy, France, West Germany
