Critic Rating
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Director
Bernardo Bertolucci
Cast
Jean-Louis Trintignant,
Stefania Sandrelli,
Gastone Moschin,
Dominique Sanda,
Enzo Tarascio,
Fosco Giachetti
Genre
Drama
Marcello is a fascist ordered to assassinate his former professor in Paris, who now lives in exile as a political dissident. Told through a series of flashbacks, Marcello uses his own honeymoon as a cover to carry out the mission.
A film that is often considered Bertolucci’s masterpiece, and for good reason. What seems to have stuck with viewers is Clerici’s quest for conventionality at a time when such conventions are fated to change, but I’m also intrigued by the queer themes that run throughout, and I wonder if they can stand up to harsh analysis. Still, this is a political yet emotional film about the desire to conform and the impulse to subvert that is very much worth viewing.
with cinematography of Vitarrio Storaro it's one of best picture in history of cinema.
TV Guide Magazine
One of Bertolucci's best films, The Conformist makes a provocative connection between repressed sexual desires and fascist politics. It's an intriguing, elegantly photographed study of the twisted Italian character of the 1930s. (Review of Original Release)
Los Angeles Times by Kevin Thomas
Seems every bit the masterpiece it was when first released by Paramount. In this dazzling film, Bertolucci manages to combine the bravura style of Fellini, the acute sense of period of Visconti and the fervent political commitment of Elio Petri -- and, better still, a lack of self-indulgence.
L.A. Weekly
The Conformist is a great film, drunkenly beautiful and deeply disturbing.
Washington Post by Hal Hinson
Even if it weren't in pristine shape for its current re-release, it would still qualify as one of only a handful of films made in the past 30 years that truly deserve to be called great. (Review of 1994 Release)
Washington Post by Desson Thomson
Masterfully arranged for color, texture, decor and camera fluidity, The Conformist is more like a symphonic poem than a movie. (Review of 1994 Release)
Village Voice by Michael Atkinson
Bertolucci's masterpiece--made when he was all of 29--will be the most revelatory experience a fortunate pilgrim will have in a theater this year is a foregone conclusion.
Philadelphia Inquirer by Steven Rea
The Conformist has a decadent visual beauty about it that's breathtaking. But as striking as Bertolucci's classic looks, there's even more powerful stuff in the storytelling.
Christian Science Monitor by David Sterritt
One of the great Bertolucci's most acclaimed films...Trintignant gives a legendary performance.
TV Guide Magazine by Staff (Not Credited)
One of Bertolucci's best films, The Conformist makes a provocative connection between repressed sexual desires and fascist politics. It's an intriguing, elegantly photographed study of the twisted Italian character of the 1930s. (Review of Original Release)
L.A. Weekly by David Thomson
The Conformist is a great film, drunkenly beautiful and deeply disturbing.
Portland Oregonian by Shawn Levy
Thirty-five years since its debut, The Conformist is still a stunning, challenging, transporting film.
The New York Times by Vincent Canby
The movie is perfectly cast, from Trintignant and on down, including Pierre Clementi, who appears briefly as the wicked young man who makes a play for the young Marcello. The Conformist is flawed, perhaps, but those very flaws may make it Bertolucci's first commercially popular film. (Review of Original Release)
ReelViews by James Berardinelli
Storaro and Bertolucci have fashioned a visual masterpiece in The Conformist, with some of the best use of light and shadow ever in a motion picture. This isn't just photography, it's art -- powerful, beautiful, and effective. (Review of 1994 Release)
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