1970 - THE CONFORMIST, should have been called The Fascist,

A film with a big reputation, Marcello Clerici played by Jean-Louis Trintignant wants to be part of the Fascist party in Italy during the 1930's.  To achieve this goal Clerici will assassinate a former college professor who is an anti-fascist.  The film flashes back through the life of Clerici as we see how he got to this point.

 

 Frankly the film seems a little weak with the explanations of the past scenes we see of Clerici's life in order to explain why he does what he does.  There seems to be a lot of two bit Freudian analysis for my taste. But I would be negligent to point out that this film is considered one of Bertolucci's best films.  

 

What can't be argued is the film's stunning cinematography by Vittorio Storaro.  Storaro has long been an advocate of photographing film where the use of color can be manipulated to create an emotional response in the viewer. Along with Bertolucci's staging the film certainly has a very stunning look.

 

The film was written by Bernardo Bertolucci and runs 108 minutes.  The Conformist is a flawed film but worth seeing.