All hail the revival of one of Bernardo Bertolucci's best films.
Examining Italy's fascist past, it attributes the evils of that time as much to perverse sexuality as to political and cultural factors.
The marvellous Jean-Louis Trintignant is the conformist of the title who, having suffered trauma in his youth at the hands of a pederast, is so anxious to live a normal life that he becomes a tool of a vicious state. Assassination is the name of the murky game he plays.
Bertolucci, aided by Vittorio Storaro's terrific camerawork and a cast that also includes Stefania Sandrelli, Pierre Clementi and Dominique Sanda, summons up the period with what can only be described as an icy luxury.
He ripped the tale resourcefully from Alberto Moravia and made it his own.
The Conformist (Il Conformista)
Cert: 15
