Italy/1971—directed by Bernardo Bertolucci | 110 minutes

In Mussolini’s Italy of the 1930s, Marcello (the great Jean-Louis Trintignant of My Night at Maud’s and Amour) is so desperate to fit in with those around him that he’s willing not only to become a fascist and a murderer but also to deny his own desires in order to blend into the regime’s version of “normal.”

Bertolucci’s masterpiece is a visual and aural feast – it’s almost as if all the sensuality and passion the protagonist is repressing explodes onto the screen via richly the richly colorful and fluid cinematography of Vittorio Storaro (Apocalypse Now) and the evocative, memorable musical score by the great Georges Delerue (Jules and Jim, The Last Métro).

Classically elegant while thematically subversive, The Conformist is a seminal filmgoing experience, more stunning than ever in this brand-new 4K restoration. With Dominique Sanda and Stefania Sandrelli. In Italian with English subtitles.

“A rejuvenating jolt of youthful creative energy… a time when movies were the most important art and their creative possibilities seemed endless.”   –Dave Kehr, The New York Times