Dominique Sanda played key roles in two of Bernardo Bertolucci’s films in his 1970s peak period. This loose film adaptation of Alberto Moravia’s 1951 novel Il Conformista was somewhat misguidedly translated into Finnish as Fasisti (The Fascist): the film is less an analysis of the societal breeding ground of fascism and more a psychological treatise on an individual conformist.
Jean-Louis Trintignant’s professor of philosophy Clerici harbours an intense need to be “normal”. Bertolucci’s fascination with psychoanalysis is evident by basing Clerici’s obsession on a seduction experience in the professor’s youth.
The spineless Clerici becomes involved with fascists in the 1930s. He’s recruited to murder an anti-fascist professor Quadri (Enzo Tarascio), an émigré living in Paris. Using his honeymoon with his wife (Stefania Sandrelli) as a cover to travel, the plot is further complicated by Clerici falling passionately in love with Quadri’s wife (Sanda).
The robustly baroque style of Bertolucci’s masterful breakthrough mirrors the Fascist monuments. The film’s enchantingly labyrinthine structure allows cinematographer Vittorio Storaro to play with light, shadow and vivid colour. The two scenes guaranteed to be burned into the mind of the viewer, the stunning dancehall sequence and the chilling forest execution, demonstrate Sanda’s range as an actor.
Timo Malmi