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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 retaliation is to try to forget the past by believing the thing he most needs is normalcy, the average, and; therefore, conformity. He chooses to marry Giulia, an empty-headed woman because she is mediocre and he longs for formal acceptance into the leadership of the Party. As he explains, "I'm going to build a life that's normal. I'm marrying a petty bourgeoisie...Mediocre. A mound of petty ideas" (Bertolucci 1970).

Striving to become "normal," never venturing beyond the "average," and always doing his "duty" become the driving forces of Marcello's life because he thinks they will make him forget the past. Likewise, such a course of behavior permits him to absolve himself of any responsibility for his actions in conforming. He will ultimately trade-off his acquaintanceship with a former professor (a leader of the resistance) to win acceptance into the Party's high

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Marcello Clerici. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 07:35, March 29, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/2000333.html