Saturday, 1 February 2025

LIFE IMITATING ART

Yesterday I noticed the late afternoon sun coming through the Venetian blinds and creating patterns on the floor, table and wall.





It reminded me immediately of Bernardo Bertolucci's 1970 film The Conformist.





The Conformist (Italian: Il conformista) is a 1970 political drama film written and directed by Bernardo Bertolucci, based on the 1951 novel by Alberto Moravia. It stars Jean-Louis Trintignant, Stefania Sandrelli, Gastone Moschin, Enzo Tarascio, Fosco Giachetti, José Quaglio, Dominique Sanda and Pierre Clémenti. Set in 1930s Italy, The Conformist centers on a mid-level Fascist functionary (Trintignant) who is ordered to assassinate his former professor, an anti-Fascist dissident in Paris. His mission is complicated after he begins an affair with the professor's wife (Sanda).


Bertolucci used light and shadows to great effect underlining the conflict the protagonist undergoes in trying to 'conform' to the current norm of fascism, suppressing his intellectual aspirations. As you might expect I wrote a previous post about this film: OUT OF THE SHALLOWS






The Curmudgeons Inc. endeavours to bring culture and sensitivity to the barbarians who live in Lower Hutt (one of them has an alter-ego describing himself as a Philistine!). It's a thankless job but someone has to do it.

 

7 comments:

Rob said...

But the true greatness of The Conformist lies in how natural beauty can act as an ironic counterpoint to the evil of human beings. The visually vibrant world that Bertolucci and Storaro create serves to throw the ethical complexities and failings of their characters into sharper relief.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for that contribution.
What other Bertolucci films have you seen?

TC

Rob said...

The Last Explorer, After the Revolution, The last rape in Paris, The comedy of a ridiculous man, The big Buddha, and Him and I. As you can see I've seen most of the good ones.

Anonymous said...

Yes. As expected. Hey! I heard that Mel Gibson made a great movie about Jesus getting murdered that you’ll like.

Richard (of RBB) said...

I used to watch Get Smart on the tv.

THE CURMUDGEON said...

I'm sorry to hear that it didn't work.

Richard (of RBB) said...

Same post, different day.