Marcello Clerici

Bernardo Bertolucci's "The Conformist" was released in 1970, and as the title suggests it portrays the forces of conformity on protagonist Marcello Clerici (aka Jean Louis Trintignant) in an era of fascism in Italy. Although the pressures to conform in Mussolini Italy are significant, Marcello's dilemma is wrought by the pressures of the past on the future. A sexual trauma in Marcello's youth haunts his present to a significant degree, driving him both by what he wants to forget and by what he believes he needs. This analysis will discuss this dilemma as it is portrayed in "The Conformist." A conclusion will explore what the film teaches us about the future.

In "The Conformist," Marcello is an upper-class Italian in Mussolini's fascist Italy of the 1930s. Marcello is isolated and feels disconnected from his fellow man, recognizing only his differences from others. Marcello is haunted by the past trauma in his youth of shooting his chauffeur after the man attempted to sexually molest him. Marcello's retaliati

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Category: Film - M