The Conformist

Name: The Conformist
Genre: Drama
Released: October 22, 1970
Duration: 107 min
Rating: 100
Cast: Jean-Louis Trintignant, Stefania Sandrelli

1970

METASCORE

Universal acclaim based on 11 Critic Reviews

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100

USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 88 Ratings

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7.8

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7.8	Your Score
7.8	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 88 Ratings

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The Conformist (US Re-Release Trailer)

Now Playing: The Conformist (US Re-Release Trailer)

Movie Details & Credits

Paramount Pictures | Release Date: October 22, 1970 | R

Starring: Jean-Louis Trintignant, Stefania Sandrelli

Summary: Set in Rome in the 1930s, this re-release of Bernardo Bertolucci's 1970 breakthrough feature stars Jean-Louis Trintignant as a Mussolini operative sent to Paris to locate and eliminate an old professor who fled Italy when the fascists came to power.

Director: Bernardo Bertolucci

Genre(s): Drama

Rating: R

Runtime: 107 min

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Metascore

100

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Critic Reviews

100

Hal Hinson

Even if it weren't in pristine shape for its current re-release, it would still qualify as one of only a handful of films made in the past 30 years that truly deserve to be called great. (Review of 1994 Release) Read full review

100

David Thomson

The Conformist is a great film, drunkenly beautiful and deeply disturbing. Read full review

100

Shawn Levy

Thirty-five years since its debut, The Conformist is still a stunning, challenging, transporting film. Read full review

100

Desson Thomson

Masterfully arranged for color, texture, decor and camera fluidity, The Conformist is more like a symphonic poem than a movie. (Review of 1994 Release) Read full review

100

Steven Rea

The Conformist has a decadent visual beauty about it that's breathtaking. But as striking as Bertolucci's classic looks, there's even more powerful stuff in the storytelling. Read full review

100

David Sterritt

One of the great Bertolucci's most acclaimed films...Trintignant gives a legendary performance. Read full review

James Berardinelli

Storaro and Bertolucci have fashioned a visual masterpiece in The Conformist, with some of the best use of light and shadow ever in a motion picture. This isn't just photography, it's art -- powerful, beautiful, and effective. (Review of 1994 Release) Read full review

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User Reviews

AaronS.

Nov 28, 2005

Bertolucci's masterpiece. One of the most stunning films ever made period.

0 of 1 users found this helpful

leiris

Dec 7, 2006

One of cinema's all time masterpieces.

0 of 2 users found this helpful

PaulE.

Jun 24, 2007

Bertolucci's best and one world's best during the 20th Century.

1 of 3 users found this helpful

ahmedaiman1999

Apr 4, 2021

Bertolucci uses film as a true artistic medium, with his manipulation of lighting and shadows, camera movement and arresting mise-en-scène as well as a non-linear narrative structure to create a grandiose psychologically enigmatic character study that's intoxicating and alluring in equal measure.

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

Jotto999

Sep 4, 2012

The rating this movie deserves would depend on what year it is. Back when this came out, it would have been relevant to Europe's still fresh scars from WW2. I'm in generation Y, and although this film makes a good historical and cultural demonstration, it is tailored for my parents, notThe rating this movie deserves would depend on what year it is. Back when this came out, it would have been relevant to Europe's still fresh scars from WW2. I'm in generation Y, and although this film makes a good historical and cultural demonstration, it is tailored for my parents, not me. It's something I have to "try to get", not something I can just watch and know immediately the points the movie is trying to convey. In other words, it's a movie I have to learn how to watch while I'm watching it, which was nice mental stimulation, but ultimately less entertaining and something my memory won't encode fondly, despite it's strengths. I hope this who know their 20th century European history and culture won't think I am being ungrateful, and I understand this movie should have higher appeal to those who do.

I must say though, I very much enjoyed the buildings in this movie.… Expand

2 of 3 users found this helpful21

GaborA.

Jan 3, 2007

A visual masterpiece, but also completely unabsorbing. The scenery and characters are a joy to look at, but its impossible to get into their heads because nothing they do makes sense in the least bit. This seems to be true about most Bertolucci films. Luckily Coppola snatched Vittorio A visual masterpiece, but also completely unabsorbing. The scenery and characters are a joy to look at, but its impossible to get into their heads because nothing they do makes sense in the least bit. This seems to be true about most Bertolucci films. Luckily Coppola snatched Vittorio Storaro away from him for a few years and gave us a true masterpiece both visually and in terms of storytelling called Apocalypse Now.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful

Broyax

Mar 25, 2022

Un non-sens de film et un tel vide à chaque plan, un vide mâtiné d’une prétention aussi vaine que le reste, ou p;lus exactement les restes de ce film-déchet qu’on dirait tout droit sorti d’une poubelle, une poubelle renversée comme si elle venait de dégobiller ce sous-produit de film àUn non-sens de film et un tel vide à chaque plan, un vide mâtiné d’une prétention aussi vaine que le reste, ou p;lus exactement les restes de ce film-déchet qu’on dirait tout droit sorti d’une poubelle, une poubelle renversée comme si elle venait de dégobiller ce sous-produit de film à peigne-culs, là dans le caniveau…

Et ce, malgré Trintignant et Sandrelli qui errent comme des pauvres hères livrés à eux-mêmes dans ce film de pisse-froids pour public Télérama et étudiants de gauche (pléonasme) qui pètent plus haut que leur cul tout en restant les trois quarts du temps complètement abrutis par le cannabis.

Dans ces bien tristes conditions (rigoureusement insupportables pour tout dire), difficile de tenir, y compris en accéléré, sachant que cet étron d’une lenteur affligeante s’étale sur presque deux plombes qui en paraissent huit. Ou dix. En bref et en clair, un gros film de merde bien à chier !… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

SEE ALL 18 REVIEWS