A weak-willed Italian man becomes a fascist flunky who goes abroad to arrange the assassination of his old teacher, now a political dissident.A weak-willed Italian man becomes a fascist flunky who goes abroad to arrange the assassination of his old teacher, now a political dissident.A weak-willed Italian man becomes a fascist flunky who goes abroad to arrange the assassination of his old teacher, now a political dissident.
- Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 10 wins & 8 nominations total
- Marcello Clerici
- (as Jean Louis Trintignant)
- Raoul
- (as Cristian Alegny)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe hospital that Clerici's father is at is actually the Teatro Libera (Free Theater) at the Palazzo dei Congressi in EUR, a massive complex on the outskirts of Rome that was begun as a monument to the Fascist Government. This massive, modernist white marble complex and theater have appeared in several other films and television shows.
- GoofsA radio tower appears in a flashback to Marcello's Rome boyhood in 1917.
- Quotes
Italo: A normal man? For me, a normal man is one who turns his head to see a beautiful woman's bottom. The point is not just to turn your head. There are five or six reasons. And he is glad to find people who are like him, his equals. That's why he likes crowded beaches, football, the bar downtown...
Marcello: At Piazza Venice.
Italo: He likes people similar to himself and does not trust those who are different. That's why a normal man is a true brother, a true citizen, a true patriot...
Marcello: A true fascist.
- Alternate versionsThe "Dance of the Blind" sequence was restored for the 1994 re-issue of the film. This had been cut for the American release. Contrary to early reports, the DVD released by Paramount does include this scene.
- ConnectionsEdited into The Kid Stays in the Picture (2002)
Based on a novel by Italian author Albert Moravia (who also wrote the novel that inspired Godard's "Contempt"), "The Conformist" is the story of a closeted homosexual, Marcello (Jean-Louis Trintignant) who becomes a fascist yes-man, marrying a clueless girl, Giulia (Stefania Sandrelli) and going to Paris for their honeymoon. Marcello's bosses ask him to kill his old college mentor, Quadri (Enzo Tarascio), an anti-fascist who fled Italy to live in Paris with his young, beautiful and idealistic wife, Anna (Dominique Sanda). Anna and Marcello are former lovers, but that's not the only pitfall in Marcello's plan, nor is it stronger than his tragic conformism to an exacerbated political regime and the fear of living as a "pederast"/having his homosexuality made public.
The political factor is an open part of the plot, while Marcello's sexuality is very ambiguous (he seems to have real feelings for Anna, yet a childhood trauma and a homophobic attitude show his tragic character formation). "The Conformist" works as a riveting political thriller and a haunting character study, and it's impossible to praise this film without mentioning Vittorio Storaro's breath-taking cinematography, possibly his greatest (and that's saying a lot) and certainly one of the very best in film history. The whole film is so beautifully shot that every scene seems to be taken out of a painting; it could perfectly be photographed now rather than 38 years ago and it wouldn't look any better. The performances are all magnificent, particularly Trintignant, Sandrelli and Sanda, each perfectly portraying blind rage, ignorance and idealism, respectively. All in all, as close to perfection as film-making gets, and as timeless as its main themes (politics, conformism and sexuality) - if you think this couldn't happen today, take a look around and tell me how many gay Republicans you know?
10/10.
- Benedict_Cumberbatch
- Aug 10, 2008
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Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- Der große Irrtum
- Filming locations
- Cinecittà Studios, Cinecittà, Rome, Lazio, Italy(radio station scene)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $750,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $238,792
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $11,498
- Jan 8, 2023
- Gross worldwide
- $607,726
- Runtime1 hour 53 minutes
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.66 : 1
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![Jean-Louis Trintignant, Dominique Sanda, and Stefania Sandrelli in The Conformist (1970)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BM2JmMDZkYmEtYmVmNy00NTVmLTlkY2YtY2VkZGVjNjU1ZGI1XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMjUzOTY1NTc@._V1_QL75_UX90_CR0,2,90,133_.jpg)