Il conformista [The Conformist] (1970)

(Google Play Streaming, December 2019) There are two or three movies in writer-director Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Conformist, and they’re far from being as interesting. The first has to do with an Italian man in 1930s fascist Italy, desperately trying to fit in normal society. He gets married for the appearance of it, he takes a job in the secret police because it’s the quickest way to attach himself to the state, and he does his best not to stand out—there’s an intriguing premise here all right, except that the film seems intent on reducing his personality quirk to a single childhood incident and ends up in homophobia along the way. (A far more empathic take on the same topic would have been possible, but that’s not what Bertolucci is interested in doing nor what the original novel was doing.)  The second third of the film has our newly married protagonist going to Paris to reconnect with an old teacher, and to kill him. But there’s the teacher’s wife and a quickly sketched love triangle to complicate things. Finally, there’s a depressing third act to the film, back in Italy, where the point is to show how things fall apart. What does bring the film together is a strong sense of visual style, with a stunning use of fascist-era architecture and impeccable visual composition. The Conformist may be disappointing in the way it ties (or doesn’t) its story threads, but it’s still worth a look of a sheer visual basis alone. The genre elements of the impending assassination prevent the film from sinking into mainstream drama morass, while the striking visuals help distinguish it from strict neorealism. It’s still of limited interest, but it does have some interest and that is more than I can say about other similar movies of the era.