‘Il Conformista’ 1970
Having had a few more internet connection problems, I have up trying to edit my posted essay on L’Atalante. I shut the computer down, fired up the projector and put on an Italian film at 2am Friday morning. I decided to just watch the next film, the Bertolucci classic, The Conformist.
I was excited at the thought of starting to watch it and then was completely underwhelmed by the story and the manner in which the story was told.
On my way to Canberra, a 3-hour drive, with my wife and two children, to visit my wife’s family for the weekend.
NB. Anyone driving to Canberra from the North or from North by Northwest, don’t go via the airport at Mascot. Even at 3pm it was a bottleneck. At least I got to be a passenger for a couple of hours and research and write about some of the films I’ve seen recently.
Il Conformista (1970) is just a total block for me. I’m not sure what it is trying to be. Avant-garde? A thriller? A psychological study of an ingrate? Propaganda? Obviously, the title tells me something important.
I need to think more about it and write down the themes I think the film is exploring.
