Textual Analysis Of Il Conformista

Il Conformista is very much a political thriller, but also a surreal, psychologcial reflection which serves as a commentary on both fascist Italian society, as well as anthropogenetic sociological tendencies in general. As the title implies, the film explores what it means to conform within a society, considering the common humans tendency of seeking “normalcy” given modern cultural and political landscapes. In this case that normalcy is found in an emerging fascist society under Mussolini, one that Italo describes in the radio station at the beginning of the film as returning to its “ancient virtues.” of “similarity and reciprocity.” Therefore it is implied that this type of fascist society has a uniformity inherent within it, as it seeks

The vast majority of the scenes in this film are truly Marcello’s memories, memories that give potential context as to why and how he has ended up a supporter of the strengthening fascist cause. Looking at the film structurally, there is a base sequence, or a scene that is returned too through out the film in which Marcello and his fascist comrade Manganiello are driving through Paris in the early morning. Although this sequence is continually returned to, dispersed throughout the film are Marcello’s memories in which we see the dynamics between him and his wife Giulia, a pre-marital confession in church, a childhood abuse, and a complex dynamics formed between him, his wife, Quadri, and Ann. The fact that the majority of the narrative is told through memories is what contributes to the surreal atmosphere in the film. Memories themselves are reconstructions of reality, subjective and varying depending on the individual. In this sense we as viewers are not just observing Marcello and a centralized narrative, but are in fact in his head seeing and making sense of what he sees. Additionally, we assume that the memories take place in a chronological fashion leading up until the present, but at the same time, there is no way of actually verifying this fact, we are simply following Marcello’s string of memories, somewhat suspended from space and time, while at the same time gaining more context for why he may have a tendency to conform. This subjectivity of memory is most noticeably displayed through Marcello’s relationship with Ann. Prior to meeting her, in at least two different scenes, the actress that plays Ann is seen, leaving the audience to question how we know her when we first meet her, reflecting Marcello’s own mind tricks and his connection to