Post by klep on Apr 11, 2016 6:46:26 GMT -6
MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 4/11: The Conformist
In an oppressive, fascist state, the pressure to just go along with things is enormous. Making waves, doing anything that could be construed as different or suspicious by those around you is a good way to find yourself brought in by the secret police. The best way to stay alive and free is often to keep your head down and not make waves. The next best way, however, is to collaborate. If you join the party apparatus and eagerly participate in it, you may lose your soul but you're probably going to keep your head.
It's this second path that Marcello Clerici (Jean-Louis Trintignant), our film's "hero" has chosen. Through his blind friend Italo (José Quaglio), he has gotten an introduction to Mussolini's party bureaucracy and a way that he can serve them. He's no True Believer, he just wants to build a normal life for himself and isn't terribly concerned about who gets hurt in the process. Initially he believes he's just to spy and inform on a former professor of his in exile, but it isn't long before he finds out his true task is to assassinate the man.
The film starts on the morning of the assassination, in Marcello's hotel room. He's very nervous, sitting up all night fully dressed as the neon light outside blinks and bathes his room in red light. He receives a call. Someone has left, and a woman has left with him. This upsets Marcello. He gets up, grabs a gun, and as he leaves, we see a naked woman lying face down on the bed. Is she dead? Director Bernardo Bertolucci has her hold off making a sound long enough to let the thought form in our heads.
The Conformist then proceeds in primarily two time frames. One in the car as Marcello sets to his task, and one in the week leading up to it. We learn of Marcello's new bride - a petit bourgoise (Giulia, played by Stefania Sandrelli) whom he doesn't care too strongly about, but fits his idea of what normalcy is. We learn of his childhood trauma that drove him to seek normalcy and conformity. And we see how reuniting with his professor (and more importantly, meeting his professor's wife Anna (Dominique Sanda)) awakens the fire in him to do something different.
And lastly, we see how the oppressive, fascist state closes in around Marcello and grinds his hope to dust.
It's a fantastically structured film, and that's before we even get to the imagery. Bertolucci uses greys and blues in combination with giant, stark architecture to emphasize the oppressive nature of the state. An asylum Marcello visits is nothing but stone benches, featureless walls tower above him at various points, and the approach to the man who gives him his assignment is a massive and long room with a single desk at the other end.
But despite these depressing images, The Conformist still manages to be a very sexy film. There's an incredible warmth and allure to those moments when Marcello succumbs to the flesh and freedom - yellow is the color of love in this film. He makes love to his Giulia on a train as the sun sets through the window. A brightly lit dance studio marks his tryst with Anna. And most alluring of all is the dance shared between Giulia and Anna when the foursome go out for the evening.
But it's all for nought. Marcello's cowardice prevents him from breaking from fascism, and ultimately leaves him in a prison of his own making. Indeed, the film ends on a perfect shot of him staring through the bars of a railing, haunted by what he has done.
OUR NEXT MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 4/18: Ghost in the Shell
Mamoru Oshii's adaptation of the popular manga by Masamune Shirow is our next Movie of the Week. It's a must-see for fans of hard scifi like me, exploring transhumanism, identity, and the nature of life itself all in a beautifully animated 82 minutes. Ghost in the Shell is available on Amazon Instant Video, though it is not free for Prime members unless you have a CONtv subscription.
NEXT PICTURE SHOW PODCAST for 4/12: Close Encounters of the Third Kind
This Spielberg picture about man's encounter with alien life is the first of the next film pairing on the Next Picture Show podcast. We'll have a day on Wednesday to discuss it. Close Encounters of the Third Kind is available on Amazon Instant Video, though not free for Prime members.
In an oppressive, fascist state, the pressure to just go along with things is enormous. Making waves, doing anything that could be construed as different or suspicious by those around you is a good way to find yourself brought in by the secret police. The best way to stay alive and free is often to keep your head down and not make waves. The next best way, however, is to collaborate. If you join the party apparatus and eagerly participate in it, you may lose your soul but you're probably going to keep your head.
It's this second path that Marcello Clerici (Jean-Louis Trintignant), our film's "hero" has chosen. Through his blind friend Italo (José Quaglio), he has gotten an introduction to Mussolini's party bureaucracy and a way that he can serve them. He's no True Believer, he just wants to build a normal life for himself and isn't terribly concerned about who gets hurt in the process. Initially he believes he's just to spy and inform on a former professor of his in exile, but it isn't long before he finds out his true task is to assassinate the man.
The film starts on the morning of the assassination, in Marcello's hotel room. He's very nervous, sitting up all night fully dressed as the neon light outside blinks and bathes his room in red light. He receives a call. Someone has left, and a woman has left with him. This upsets Marcello. He gets up, grabs a gun, and as he leaves, we see a naked woman lying face down on the bed. Is she dead? Director Bernardo Bertolucci has her hold off making a sound long enough to let the thought form in our heads.
The Conformist then proceeds in primarily two time frames. One in the car as Marcello sets to his task, and one in the week leading up to it. We learn of Marcello's new bride - a petit bourgoise (Giulia, played by Stefania Sandrelli) whom he doesn't care too strongly about, but fits his idea of what normalcy is. We learn of his childhood trauma that drove him to seek normalcy and conformity. And we see how reuniting with his professor (and more importantly, meeting his professor's wife Anna (Dominique Sanda)) awakens the fire in him to do something different.
And lastly, we see how the oppressive, fascist state closes in around Marcello and grinds his hope to dust.
It's a fantastically structured film, and that's before we even get to the imagery. Bertolucci uses greys and blues in combination with giant, stark architecture to emphasize the oppressive nature of the state. An asylum Marcello visits is nothing but stone benches, featureless walls tower above him at various points, and the approach to the man who gives him his assignment is a massive and long room with a single desk at the other end.
But despite these depressing images, The Conformist still manages to be a very sexy film. There's an incredible warmth and allure to those moments when Marcello succumbs to the flesh and freedom - yellow is the color of love in this film. He makes love to his Giulia on a train as the sun sets through the window. A brightly lit dance studio marks his tryst with Anna. And most alluring of all is the dance shared between Giulia and Anna when the foursome go out for the evening.
But it's all for nought. Marcello's cowardice prevents him from breaking from fascism, and ultimately leaves him in a prison of his own making. Indeed, the film ends on a perfect shot of him staring through the bars of a railing, haunted by what he has done.
OUR NEXT MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 4/18: Ghost in the Shell
Mamoru Oshii's adaptation of the popular manga by Masamune Shirow is our next Movie of the Week. It's a must-see for fans of hard scifi like me, exploring transhumanism, identity, and the nature of life itself all in a beautifully animated 82 minutes. Ghost in the Shell is available on Amazon Instant Video, though it is not free for Prime members unless you have a CONtv subscription.
NEXT PICTURE SHOW PODCAST for 4/12: Close Encounters of the Third Kind
This Spielberg picture about man's encounter with alien life is the first of the next film pairing on the Next Picture Show podcast. We'll have a day on Wednesday to discuss it. Close Encounters of the Third Kind is available on Amazon Instant Video, though not free for Prime members.