The Conformist (re-release)
Metascore
100 out of 100

Universal acclaim - based on 11 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 11
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 11
  3. Negative: 0 out of 11
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  1. Philadelphia Inquirer
    Reviewed by: Steven Rea
    100
    The Conformist has a decadent visual beauty about it that's breathtaking. But as striking as Bertolucci's classic looks, there's even more powerful stuff in the storytelling.
  2. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Michael Atkinson
    100
    Bertolucci's masterpiece--made when he was all of 29--will be the most revelatory experience a fortunate pilgrim will have in a theater this year is a foregone conclusion.
  3. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Staff (Not credited)
    100
    One of Bertolucci's best films, The Conformist makes a provocative connection between repressed sexual desires and fascist politics. It's an intriguing, elegantly photographed study of the twisted Italian character of the 1930s. (Review of Original Release)
  4. ReelViews
    Reviewed by: James Berardinelli
    88
    Storaro and Bertolucci have fashioned a visual masterpiece in The Conformist, with some of the best use of light and shadow ever in a motion picture. This isn't just photography, it's art -- powerful, beautiful, and effective. (Review of 1994 Release)
  5. Christian Science Monitor
    Reviewed by: David Sterritt
    100
    One of the great Bertolucci's most acclaimed films...Trintignant gives a legendary performance.
  6. Portland Oregonian
    Reviewed by: Shawn Levy
    100
    Thirty-five years since its debut, The Conformist is still a stunning, challenging, transporting film.
  7. L.A. Weekly
    Reviewed by: David Thomson
    100
    The Conformist is a great film, drunkenly beautiful and deeply disturbing.
  8. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Kevin Thomas
    100
    Seems every bit the masterpiece it was when first released by Paramount. In this dazzling film, Bertolucci manages to combine the bravura style of Fellini, the acute sense of period of Visconti and the fervent political commitment of Elio Petri -- and, better still, a lack of self-indulgence.
  9. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Desson Thomson
    100
    Masterfully arranged for color, texture, decor and camera fluidity, The Conformist is more like a symphonic poem than a movie. (Review of 1994 Release)
  10. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Hal Hinson
    100
    Even if it weren't in pristine shape for its current re-release, it would still qualify as one of only a handful of films made in the past 30 years that truly deserve to be called great. (Review of 1994 Release)
  11. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Vincent Canby
    90
    The movie is perfectly cast, from Trintignant and on down, including Pierre Clementi, who appears briefly as the wicked young man who makes a play for the young Marcello. The Conformist is flawed, perhaps, but those very flaws may make it Bertolucci's first commercially popular film. (Review of Original Release)

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
7.9 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 30 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 10 out of 11
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 11
  3. Negative: 1 out of 11
  1. Serrao_Brochado
    6
    Good acting performance and cast. The movie sets and the production are also striking. And that's it... Only visual stuff. In my opinion, the movie is overrated, perhaps, because of the stigma post-fascism and post-Nazi, still felt in the 70's. By this I mean that a film like this, which casts a harsh critique of fascism, would be easily remarkable at a time when in Europe there were still "scars" of World War II. The message is, nonetheless, very interesting and important to impart. But I do not think this movie deserves the same score of Lawrence of Arabia and The Godfather ... Overrated my friends...… Full Review »
  2. shaunmed
    0
    Quite honestly one of the most boring and pointless films you will ever see. You will hate ever minute of it's pointless meandering plot. This is a movie that critics and film academics have to enjoy to be allowed to attend each other's wine parties.… Full Review »
  3. PaulE.
    10
    Bertolucci's best and one world's best during the 20th Century.
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