Viva Italia: The Conformist
April 10, 2024
Viva Italia! The Passion of Italian Cinema
In this stunning masterpiece a complex man's (Jean-Louis Trintignant) mission of pursuit is powered by his psychological evasion.
SIFF year-round passes and vouchers are not valid for this screening.
In pre-World War II Fascist Italy, a boy's traumatic experience of predatory sex and gun violence drives him to bury his past and become a Secret Police agent, someone who fits in, who follows all the rules like "normal people" do. When Trintignant's bosses tell him to investigate his former mentor (Enzo Tarascio), who's now an anti-Fascist agitator, he loads his gun. Adapted from Alberto Moravia's celebrated novel, The Confomrist's thematic and artistic richness stunned the world's literati, filmmakers, architects, interior and fashion designers. Trintignant is riveting, surrounded by the warm swirl of life, he's the chilly boy who can't grow up. He feels safe being politically correct—but what about his deepest urges? With Dominique Sanda.
- Director: Bernardo Bertolucci
- Principal Cast: Jean-Louis Trintignant, Enzo Tarascio, Dominique Sanda
- Country: Italy
- Year: 1970
- Running Time: 116 min.