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Il conformista (The Conformist) (1970)

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All Critics
Top Critics

100

Average Rating: 8.8/10
Reviews Counted: 43
Fresh: 43 | Rotten: 0

A commentary on fascism and beauty alike, Bernadro Bertolucci's The Conformist is acclaimed for its sumptuous visuals and extravagant, artful cinematography.

100

Average Rating: 8.4/10
Critic Reviews: 9
Fresh: 9 | Rotten: 0

A commentary on fascism and beauty alike, Bernadro Bertolucci's The Conformist is acclaimed for its sumptuous visuals and extravagant, artful cinematography.

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Average Rating: 4.3/5
User Ratings: 7,030

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Movie Info

The conformist is 1930s Italian Marcello Clerici (Jean-Louis Trintignant), a coward who has spent his life accommodating others so that he can "belong." Marcello agrees to kill a political refugee, on orders from the Fascist government, even though the victim-to-be is his college mentor. The film is a character study of the kind of person who willingly "conforms" to the ideological fashions of his day. In this case, director Bernardo Bertolucci suggests that Marcello's desire to conform is

R, 1 hr. 55 min.

Art House & International, Drama

Directed By: Bernardo Bertolucci

In Theaters: Oct 22, 1970 Wide

On DVD: Dec 5, 2006

Paramount Pictures

Cast

Jean-Louis Trintignant
Marcello Clerici
Dominique Sanda
Anna Quadri
Pierre Cl�menti
Pasqualino Semirama
Stefania Sandrelli
Giulia
Gastone Moschin
Manganiello
Pasquale Fortunato
Marcello as a child
Enzo Tarascio
Prof. Quadri
Jos� Quaglio
Italo
Milly
Marcello's mother
Yvonne Sanson
Giulia's mother
Fosco Giachetti
Colonel
Benedetto Benedetti
Minister
Giuseppe Addobbati
Marcello's father
Christian Alegny
Raoul
Orso Maria Guerrini
Alessandro Haber
Cieco ubriaco
Gio Vagni Luca
Secretary
Antonio Maestri
Priest
Luciano Rossi
Massimo Sarchielli
Cieco
Luigi Antonio Guerra

Critic Reviews for Il conformista (The Conformist)

All Critics (44) | Top Critics (10) | Fresh (46) | Rotten (0) | DVD (9)

Ravishing to the eye but less than fully satisfying to the mind.

December 7, 2007 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader

| Comment (1)

Jonathan Rosenbaum

Chicago Reader

Top Critic

The movie is pure magic as story, as drama, as photography, as conviction, as everything except its ideas.

September 7, 2006 Full Review Source: Washington Post

| Comment

Stephen Hunter

Washington Post

Top Critic

... seems every bit the masterpiece it was when first released by Paramount.

November 28, 2005 Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times

| Comment

Kevin Thomas

Los Angeles Times

Top Critic

As striking as Bertolucci's classic looks, there's even more powerful stuff in the storytelling.

September 22, 2005 Comment

Steven Rea

Philadelphia Inquirer

Top Critic

An eye-watering testimony to the erstwhile dash of international cinema.

July 26, 2005 Full Review Source: Village Voice

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Michael Atkinson

Village Voice

Top Critic

There are excesses in the film, but they are balanced by scenes of such unusual beauty and vitality that I couldn't care less.

May 20, 2003 Full Review Source: New York Times

| Comment

Vincent Canby

New York Times

Top Critic

Few films really deserve the term 'masterpiece,' but this one does.

January 20, 2011 Full Review Source: Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

| Comment

Ken Hanke

Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

Photographed by Vittorio Storraro, it's a m�lange of the sensual haziness of '70s European art-house fair and the high-contrast, anxious angles of film noir

December 15, 2010 Full Review Source: Slant Magazine

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Violet Lucca

Slant Magazine

The Conformist is celebrated for cinematographer Vittorio Storaro's tumbling autumn leaves, but its emotional impact involves a tumbling soul.

December 15, 2010 Full Review Source: Time Out New York

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Joshua Rothkopf

Time Out New York

The art house meets Hollywood neo-noir in Bernardo Bertolucci's The Conformist, a film that isn't recognized enough as the masterpiece that it is.

June 7, 2010 Full Review Source: AskMen.com

| Comment

Radheyan Simonpillai

AskMen.com

"The Conformist" is Bernardo Bertolucci's immaculate work of cinematic art about the conflicted mindset of a man who carries out Mussolini's fascist ideology.

July 25, 2009 Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com

| Comment

Cole Smithey

ColeSmithey.com

Talvez o melhor filme de Bertolucci, esta obra-prima magnificamente fotografada por Storaro � t�o formid�vel em sua constru��o est�tica e narrativa que cada praticamente todo plano se presta a an�lises longas e profundas.

January 28, 2009 Comment

Pablo Villaca

Cinema em Cena

One of the finest sex-and-politics thrillers ever made, blending sharp humour with riveting suspense.

February 29, 2008 Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall

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Rich Cline

Shadows on the Wall

All hail the revival of one of Bernardo Bertolucci's best films.

February 29, 2008 Full Review Source: This is London

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Derek Malcolm

This is London

A beautifully imagined portrait of moral and political cowardice.

February 29, 2008 Full Review Source: Independent

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Anthony Quinn

Independent

Bertolucci's film has the compelling quality of a bad dream.

February 29, 2008 Comment

Peter Bradshaw

Guardian [UK]

One of the most referenced and extraordinary films in cinema history.

February 29, 2008 Full Review Source: Little White Lies

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Little White Lies

The Conformist isn't just a triumph, it's one of the greatest movies ever made.

February 29, 2008 Full Review Source: Film4

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Richard Luck

Film4

Probing, unsettling and visually compelling, The Conformist treats its audience as adults, never opting for easy closure.

February 28, 2008 Full Review Source: Total Film

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Philip Kemp

Total Film

A powerful story well acted by a fine cast, it doesn't have the moral outcome you might imagine. An absorbing drama with a different, albeit downbeat, twist to it.

February 28, 2008 Full Review Source: Sky Movies

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Sky Movies

A visual masterpiece thanks to Storaro's keen eye and Bertolucci's assured direction.

February 28, 2008 Full Review Source: Empire Magazine

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Glen Ferris

Empire Magazine

More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Il conformista (The Conformist)

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Appreciate it more than I enjoyed watching it. Beautifully shot, incredibly insightful, often boring.

September 22, 2011

Reid Volk

Super Reviewer

A fine movie, but dry and difficult to relate to. I can't imagine many people calling this a favorite. I have a great deal of respect for its craftsmanship, above all, most notably because the filming is beyond gorgeous. Vittorio Storaro, cinematographer extraordinaire and thrice-over Oscar winner, creates a film that

April 23, 2010