Which film is cooler, this or La Samouri?
I notice they both carry this Film Noir vibe, and both carried a sense of realism, and are both character studies. Just wanna know from the International Film Buffs.
share"cooler" as in hip, or "cooler" as in tone and distance.
"Le Samourai" wins on both counts. "The Conformist" is the opposite of "cool" in tone; the movie is a completely sensual experience. As for hip, unless the European Art Film is coming back in style with 20s hipster crowd, I don't see it.
More like Tone and Distance, that's what I meant. I'm thinking if The Conformist would be remade, it should be directed by Michael Mann. The way he develops the characters that never calls attention to itself, and thats just one examples. Although I think Bertolucci really made something of himself, I liked this film better than his recent The Dreamers.
share'Le Samourai' is cooler is tone and distance, in fact it's positively 'refrigerated', so consistently and in every detail that it's clearly the effect the director wanted.
The film shows how the hired killer's profession robs him of the chance of becoming 'human' (theme found in 'Nikita' among other French films).
Personally, I think 'Le Samourai's' highly stylized cool undermines somewhat psychological realism.
I'm thinking if The Conformist would be remade, it should be directed by Michael Mann.
Is this a joke? Michael Mann is pretty much an American Jean-Pierre Melville and isn't really capable of the sensitivity and almost adolescent sexual fascination Bertolucci has in his characters.
"Ça va by me, madame...Ça va by me!" - The Red Shoes
Very true, now I do notice the sexuality in Bertolucci's films. It was just a generalized thought. The reason I brought up Mann is his unconventional take on Hollywood Blockbusters ( Thief, Heat, Collateral, Miami Vice). His crime masterpiece HEAT doesn't just have the standard character growth, you really delve the psych of Al Pacino and Robert Deniro. His direction is never rushed, solid formal choices, and demands attention just like independent films or European films. And the first time I saw The Conformist, I was overwhelmed by the politics and layers balanced throughout this espionage epic. I immediately associated with a Mann film. Thanks for bringing this topic back, I thought it was dead.
shareVery true, now I do notice the sexuality in Bertolucci's films.
Sexuality is a key theme for Bertolucci. He is a Marxist of the 60s when Marx could only survive by being attached to Freud. So class consciousness for him is a matter of sexual trangression and sexual repression. Il Conformista is about a man who becomes a Fascist not because he believes in fascism or likes fascists but because that is normal while his homosexuality is abnormal, so the film examines the process by which he represses himself and the emptiness that occurs as a result.
His crime masterpiece HEAT doesn't just have the standard character growth, you really delve the psych of Al Pacino and Robert Deniro.
For you maybe! For me, it was just an overlong, overdrenched reworking of cliches from a dozen films noir. And the style of that film has nothing to do with Bertolucci. If made by Bertolucci, Heat would be a sensual pursuit between a handsome cop and a sexy robber and the conflict would have homoerotic undercurrents much moreso than Mann already has in this and his other films.
And the first time I saw The Conformist, I was overwhelmed by the politics and layers balanced throughout this espionage epic.
Yeah. Although politically, it's quite straightforward. That is...fascist agent sent on a mission to kill left-wing philosopher in France but the personal conflict that happens is the key to the suspense of the entire film.
"Ça va by me, madame...Ça va by me!" - The Red Shoes