The Conformist (1971)

The review calls the film a dazzling, idea-laden thriller that balances politics, philosophy and sex with a serio-comic tone, crediting its striking cinematography and performances while noting its intellectual engagement.

The critic describes it as Bertolucci's greatest film, a complex study of a man trapped between convention and rebellion that also reveals much about the director himself.

The critic hails it as one of the greatest and most visually ravishing films ever made, singling out its innovative nonlinear flashback structure that mirrors the protagonist’s psyche and its blend of sensuous beauty with moral and political complexity in a 4K restoration re-release.

The critic calls it a surreal masterwork that feels contemporary, praising its tale of political and sexual dark forces in Fascist Italy and the sheer beauty of every frame. Trintignant's performance as Marcello is singled out as sweeping the viewer away.

The critic celebrates the re-release as one of the best films of the year, praising its timeless exploration of conformity and complicity through stunning visual storytelling—color, framing, and sets—along with Jean-Louis Trintignant’s complex performance and the film’s blend of art-house sensuality and noir tension.

The critic calls it one of the great triumphs of stylistic filmmaking, praising Vittorio Storaro’s cinematography, the sensuous construction of the images, and how the style smooths over any narrative or thematic flaws to create an overwhelming cinematic experience.

The critic calls the film an elegant surprise and superior chronicle that equates the rise and fall of Italian Fascism with the romantic, obsessive life of its conformist protagonist. Bertolucci's rich, poetic, baroque style is praised as an improvement over the source novel.

Bertolucci’s 1970 masterpiece is rereleased in a smart new print, deserving to be seen for its strikingly composed images and ravishing colours from Vittorio Storaro’s cinematography. The visual artistry enhances the story of an insecure man driven to fascism by a desire to seem normal.

The critic praises Bertolucci's striking adaptation as a powerful exploration of cowardice, conformity, and the interplay of politics and sexuality in 1930s Italy. Storaro's lush cinematography and the lead performance by Trintignant are singled out for creating emotional and visual depth.

The critic hails the revival of one of Bertolucci's best films, praising its examination of Italy's fascist past through perverse sexuality and its icy luxurious period recreation via Vittorio Storaro's camerawork.

The critic describes the film as an unprecedented mixture of political drama and sensuality, a classic study of betrayal and bad faith soaked in nostalgic ambivalence. The luxurious Parisian scenes and performances by Trintignant, Sandrelli, and Sanda are highlighted.

The critic praises Bertolucci's assured direction and the film's exploration of a repressed, unlikeable protagonist drawn to fascism, highlighting its visual style and emotional depth over later works by the director.

Bertolucci's 1970 adaptation of Moravia's novel is welcomed back in a new print that does justice to its expressive spectacle and art direction. Jean-Louis Trintignant is magnificent as the weak intellectual drawn into fascism, though the psychology is described as 'dollar-book Freud.'

The review calls Bertolucci's free adaptation a click from start to finish, a powerful film about a coward conforming to Fascist dictates. Strong performances, especially by Trintignant, Sandrelli, and Sanda, are praised, though some trimming is suggested.

The critic calls Bertolucci's film one of the finest of the 1970s, praising its ironic mix of vibrant mise en scène and deliberate emptiness in its study of a conformist fascist operative.

The critic praises Bertolucci's bold choice to make every character unlikeable and pathetic in this exploration of fascism, using a sexual drama and love triangle to examine fear and complicity under Mussolini's regime. Vittorio Storaro's 'colour noir' cinematography and the film's focus on voyeurism and the regime's absurd bureaucracy are highlighted as standout elements.