The Conformist (1970)

 Bernardo Bertolucci's "The Conformist"

After the exhilarating and experimental 60s came to a close, there were a group of films that would exemplify the oncoming visual film art of the next decade. One of those films was Bernardo Bertolucci's 1970 masterpiece "The Conformist." The film escapes the metatextual, modern, and post-modern works that would come to cement the 60s style. Rather, its embrace of more old-fashioned expressionist environments, moral explorations of early-century fascism, and character examination that would come to define the 'New Hollywood' movement of the 1970s made it a crucial piece of work that would even influence Francis Ford Coppola's "The Godfather."

"The Conformist" takes place in late 1930s Italy during the Mussolini dictatorship. Our protagonist and titular 'conformist,' Marcello, is a member of the fascist secret police as a means to obtain a 'normal' life and blend in to the current social structure. He is tasked with assassinating a former professor of his, Luca Quadri, who is an outspoken anti-fascist living in Paris. Marcello uses his honeymoon with his new wife, Giulia, as an excuse to enter Paris and 'reunite' with his old professor. However, things get complicated when Marcello begins having an affair with the professor's young wife, Anna. This leads him to contemplate his place and loyalties. 

After watching Brady Corbet's contemporary masterpiece, "The Brutalist, recently, I came to the understanding on the correlation between decadence in building design and fascism. Decadence equals power. This came to mind while watching "The Conformist," as every scene drips with decadent building and infrastructure design. The set pieces are immaculately realized and their towering visual prominence dominates the screen. Marcello walks through endless constructs that embolden political and social consideration. 

What's fascinating thematically about this attention to the stark visual environment our protagonist finds himself in is that he molds his actions and personality to fit them. Whatever environment he finds himself, whatever circumstances, his deep-seated desire to be 'normal' and to 'fit in' causes him to...you guessed it...conform. 

Bertolucci takes us through Marcello's psyche through various flashbacks and abstractions that dissect the pathology for such a viewpoint. We see his upper-class upbringing, along with the sexual trauma he experienced at 13, along with his (perhaps accidental) violent act in which he shot a man. Currently, his father is in a mental institution, his mother is a morphine addict, and his new wife, Giulia, was sexually groomed by a man she calls 'uncle.' All this disfunction has led Marcello to this deep seated desire for a 'normal' life. 

What's tragic about this personality outcome is his inability to adhere to any individualized morality. Rather, he abandons his morality and sacrifices his values for the sake of this conformity. He has now become an extension of whatever social or political construct surrounds him. He has lost his humanity in favor of being a puppet. 

Bertolucci demonstrates his internal considerations through his landscapes. While in fascist Italy, he is stanchly adherent to the fascist powers. His demeanor is cold and matter-of-fact. To match, his environment appears very cold and towering. The buildings are grand, elegant, and mathematically ordered and opulent. While in a more liberated Paris, his coldness begins to melt. He starts to consider a life outside of his fascist ideology and the strict control of power. Through these considerations, his environment becomes much more freeform. Dancing, liberate actions, celebration, sexual freedom, etc. are all around him, mocking the adherent control of the opposite fascist environment. 

The visual brilliance of "The Conformist" echoes its internal thematic constructions in such a way that elevates the film beyond a typical examination of fascism and morality. It is a film that has abandoned the metatextual liberations of 1960s storytelling in favor of something that examines the internality of a human's life counterbalanced with its respective socio-political environment. Many films that would come out in the 1970s echo this new format. For example, Coppola's "The Godfather" has clear aesthetic and visual roots that are cemented in Bertolucci's grand film. Other films, like that of Martin Scorsese and Robert Alman can also be said to be delineative from "The Conformist." Overall, its impact on cinema is deeply felt and its thematic examinations of fascist ideology is complex and thoroughly engaging.