The Conformist

The Conformist (Il conformista) is a novel by Alberto Moravia published in 1951, which details the life and desire for normalcy of a government official during Italy's fascist period. It is also known for the 1970 film adaptation by Bernardo Bertolucci.

Plot summary

Prologue

In the prologue, the reader witnesses numerous formative events from a short period in Marcello’s childhood. In the first, Marcello coldly kills several lizards in the yard between his home and the home of his neighbor and friend, Roberto. He tries to coax Roberto into offering approval of this behavior, and when Roberto doesn’t comply, they fight and Roberto leaves. Marcello later obtains a slingshot and fires a few stones through the ivy that covers the fence around Roberto’s family’s house, only to find that he has killed their family cat instead of Roberto. Marcello is mortified not so much by his actions but by what he perceives as the abnormality of his sentiments.

Marcello also witnesses a fight between his parents that is later revealed to mark the beginning of his father’s decline into mental illness. Marcello’s mother and housemaid discover that his father has vandalized a photograph of Marcello and his mother by poking holes through their eyes and drawing streaks of blood on their faces. His father ultimately chases his mother around the house and attacks her in the bedroom, leaving Marcello torn between whether to rescue his mother or aid his father. It is revealed that Marcello’s father often physically abuses the boy.

Bernardo Bertolucci

Bernardo Bertolucci (Italian: [berˈnardo bertoˈluttʃi]; born 16 March 1941) is an Italian film director and screenwriter, whose films include The Conformist, Last Tango in Paris, 1900, The Last Emperor, The Sheltering Sky and The Dreamers. In recognition of his work, he was presented with the inaugural Honorary Palme d'Or Award at the opening ceremony of the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.

Biography

Origins

Bertolucci was born in the Italian city of Parma, in the region of Emilia-Romagna. He is the elder son of Ninetta (Giovanardi), a teacher, and Attilio Bertolucci, who was a poet, a reputed art historian, anthologist and film critic. His mother was born in Australia, to an Italian father and an Irish mother. Having been raised in an artistic environment, Bertolucci began writing at the age of fifteen, and soon after received several prestigious literary prizes including the Premio Viareggio for his first book. His father's background helped his career: the elder Bertolucci had helped the Italian filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini publish his first novel, and Pasolini reciprocated by hiring Bertolucci as first assistant in Rome on Accattone (1961).

Conformist

In English history, Conformists were those whose religious practices conformed with the requirements of the Act of Uniformity and so were in concert with the Established Church, the Church of England, as opposed to those of Nonconformists whose practices were not acceptable to the Church of England.

In 1662 ministers had to sign the Act of Uniformity to use the book of common prayer. Virtually the only church in the UK that is still truly "Conformist" in this sense is the Church of England (Continuing).

See also

Vittorio Storaro

Vittorio Storaro, A.S.C., A.I.C. (born 24 June 1940 in Rome) is an Italian cinematographer.

In 2003, a survey conducted by the International Cinematographers Guild judged Storaro one of history's ten most influential cinematographers.

Biography

The son of a film projectionist, Storaro began studying photography at the age of 11. He went on to formal cinematography studies at the national Italian film school, Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia, when he was 18. Working as a camera operator for many years, he was on his first film as cinematographer for Giovinezza, Giovinezza (Youthful, Youthful) in 1968. In 1970, he photographed L'uccello dalle piume di cristallo (The Bird with the Crystal Plumage), the first film directed by Dario Argento.

He has worked with many important film directors, in particular Bernardo Bertolucci, with whom he has had a long collaboration, as well as Francis Ford Coppola, Carlos Saura and Warren Beatty.

His credits include 1900, The Conformist, Last Tango in Paris, The Last Emperor, Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist, Apocalypse Now, One From the Heart, Reds, Bulworth, The Sheltering Sky, Tucker: The Man and His Dream, Ladyhawke, Tango and Goya en Burdeos. He was also cinematographer for a BBC co-production with Italian broadcaster RAI of Verdi's Rigoletto over two nights on the weekend of 4 and 5 September 2010.

Jean-Louis Trintignant

Jean-Louis Xavier Trintignant (French pronunciation: ​[tʁɛ̃tiɲɑ̃]; born 11 December 1930) is a French actor, screenwriter and director who has enjoyed international acclaim. He won the Best Actor Award at the 1969 Cannes Film Festival as well as the Best Actor Award at the César Awards 2013.

Life and career

Trintignant was born in Piolenc, Vaucluse, France, the son of Claire (née Tourtin) and Raoul Trintignant, an industrialist. At the age of twenty, Trintignant moved to Paris to study drama, and made his theatrical debut in 1951 going on to be seen as one of the most gifted French actors of the post-war era. After touring in the early 1950s in several theater productions, his first motion picture appearance came in 1955 and the following year he gained stardom with his performance opposite Brigitte Bardot in Roger Vadim's And God Created Woman.

Trintignant’s acting was interrupted for several years by mandatory military service. After serving in Algiers, he returned to Paris and resumed his work in film. He had the leading male role in the classic A Man and a Woman, which at the time was the most successful French film ever screened in the foreign market.