Shown: January 5, 2018 at 6pm
Director : Bernardo Bertolucci
Country : Italy
Release Date : 1970
Duration : 112 mins
Language : Italian and French
Subtitles : Yes
WINNER : INTERFILM AWARD AT 1970 BERLIN FILM FESTIVAL
At the peak of his creative powers the 29-year-old Bernardo Bertolucci eschewed the influence of his mentor, Jean-Luc Godard, and partnered famed cinematographer Vittorio Storaro to develop his own style for one of the most visually dazzling and intriguing films of all time. Told in a non-linear structure, the story begins in Rome in 1938 where Jean-Louis Trintignant is a young fascist who takes on the job of assassinating his former professor who has fled to Paris. An adaptation of Alberto Moravia’s novel which has influenced film-makers such as Martin Scorsese, Paul Schrader, Francis Ford Coppola and Michael Mann and remains one of the triumphs of world cinema.
“Bertolucci manages to combine the bravura style of Fellini, the acute sense of period of Visconti and, better still, a lack of self-indulgence …’The Conformist’, which memorably co-stars Dominique Sanda as a sexually ambiguous beauty, is not merely an indictment of fascism – with some swipes at ecclesiastical hypocrisy as well – but also a profound personal tragedy.” (Kevin Thomas – Los Angeles Times)