Just saw it. WOW, best movie ever made

Conformista is one of the classics, and along with Last Tango are the only two Bertolucci films I really treasure.

The film just pulls you along; the tracking is fluid and organic, the performances pitch-perfect despite the bad dubbing. And of course the "Plato's cave" image at the end is one of the finest endings in cinema.



"Look what you did to my shirt."

Agreed.


I am shocked, *shocked* to find that gambling goes on in here!

I was on the verge to start the same thread without even looking at the existing ones when in the last moment I saw it already exists. Just finished watching this for the first time and was blown away. So this was Bertolucci before he made nice little films like "Io ballo da sola" ... sheer genius. I can't remember having been so impressed by a film in a long time.

Glad I didn't come here and saw this thread prior to watching the film, though ... it might have pushed my expectations to I don't know what heights that might have lead to disappointment, who knows, although at present I cannot imagine such a thing happening. There's one comment in this thread here that amused me: someone was surprised that the film was made in 1970 - as if great cinematography were a matter of the decade a film was made :), and 1970 certainly wasn't the stone age of cinema!

As much as I love and admire Fellini, now I start to wonder why only he is discussed so much on these boards and this film isn't. I mean, why has "La Strada" ~ 10.600 votes (deservedly so, no doubt) as compared to ~ 3.600 for "Il Conformista"? There's clearly something out of balance here.

A masterpiece if there ever was one. I realize that this term is used too loosely most of the time, by myself as well. This film changes the standards.

Regards, Rosabel

I won't argue about the quality of the cinematography. It is exceptional. The film is highly stylized and I can see why many opinions on its quality would be seduced by this, however, I personally felt the first third of the film was disappointing. The flashbacks made the story incoherent in my view. From that point the story is told chronologically and I enjoyed it thereafter. A good film with excellent cinematography. Bertolucci cannot seem to tell a simple story in a straightforward way.

One of the best of all time, that's for sure. I think I'd include it in my top 20 at least.

"I did cramps the way Meryl Streep did accents" - Calliope (Middlesex)