The Conformist

Although Bernardo Bertolucci became an internationally acclaimed director in his own right, he drew many inspirations from the work of Pier Paolo Pasolini. Beginning his career as Pasolini’s assistant, Bertolucci’s interest in psychoanalysis and Marxism closely resembled that of his mentor.

Many of Pasolini’s films conveyed his beliefs that “the achievement of self-consciousness comes from specifically sexual encounters,” – an idea clearly rooted in Freudian theory. Teorema, for example, is the story of a visitor who “makes love successively with a servant, the son, the mother, the daughter, and the father.” During the course of the film, we see how each member of the family is changed by this experience and their true identities are revealed. Compared to this rather eccentric representation of Freud’s theories on sexuality, Bertolucci takes a more orthodox approach.

While sexuality is a key theme in many of his films (The Conformist, Last Tango in Paris, The Dreamers etc.) Bertolucci chooses to explore Freud’s concepts more subtly, in fact, almost unconsciously – fitting with Freud’s theory of the unconscious. This is illustrated in the plot of The Conformist. Bertolucci admits that what started off as a joke – he used Godard’s phone number and address for the residence of the Quadris in Paris – became an unconscious desire to destroy a surrogate father figure. In the same way that Marcello (Jean-Louis Trintigant) kills Professor Quadri, Bertolucci symbolically destroys Jean-Luc Godard, his “revolutionary teacher.”

The Oedipus complex may be considered the primary concept explored in The Conformist. Not only is it represented through Marcello’s destruction of Professor Quadri, but also through the motif of blindness, which reiterates the story of Oedipus blinding himself after discovering he has slept with his own mother. Marcello’s friend Italo is blind, as is the woman selling flowers outside the Hotel D’Orsay.  Furthermore, the theme of blindness is reinforced by Bertolucci’s use of light and shadow throughout the film, especially in the scenes at his fiancées home, the asylum where his father is held, and the forest where the Quadris are assassinated.

A final exploration of Freudian concepts is Bertolucci’s use of non-linear narration. The disruptive chronology of the film, created through flashbacks, can be associated with Freud’s beliefs about repressed memories. It is clear that Marcello’s traumatic sexual encounters are the driving force behind his current state of introspection, which takes place primarily in the car with Manganiello. It seems that his inability to come to terms with these experiences directly leads him to going through with the murder of the Quadris. His search for normality/conformity was an inadequate defense mechanism not powerful enough to abate his long-term anxiety and so murdering the Quadris became the only solution: a symbolic destruction of the trauma that had haunted him for so long.
However, the film ends with the fall of fascism, and Marcello comes face to face with the man he thought he killed when he was thirteen. In a single moment, he escapes his guilt, renounces fascism, and abandons his friend Italo to a marching crowd of anti-fascists. We have to wonder if this is Marcello's absolution, has he truly resolved his trauma? Because, although he no longer feels guilt for his first murder, he has now just murdered the Quadris, so won't that just restore the same guilt he had just escaped? The film ends, therefore, with the audience wondering whether Marcello will ever truly reach an identity achievement, or if he will continue to be haunted by guilt and search for normality as 'the conformist.'

Accatone

Pier Paolo Pasolini was strongly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, one of the greatest influences of post-World War II Italian cinema. Gramsci's analysis of Italian history and particularly of the Risorgimento as a "passive"or failed revolution, led him to place a large emphasis on the importance of education. Since intellect was often associated with the upper-class this highlighted 'subaltern' groups in the middle and lower class who had their own intellect to share. As Landy explains, "they have their own sense of the world, of what is wrong and what is needful for survival," a concept closely related to the Italian folklore that "dramatizes age-old customs" and is "conducive to survival of the tragic obstacles the characters encounter in a world hostile to their interests." Thus, Accatone is a study of a subaltern community, where morality is not concrete, common sense is key, and the characters are caught between the hope of a better future, and the emptiness of the present.

During the 1950s, there was a strong push towards 'pink neorealism,' which Viano describes as "the attempt of some producers to turn Cinecittà into Europe's Hollywood." Then in the 1960s, a few young Italian producers encouraged a movement back to neorealism. They saw this as a way to increase Italy's cultural legitimacy. This led to the 'cinema d'autore,' with the low-budget films, like Accatone, that were part of Italy's very own 'nouvelle vague.' Pasolini was known for having a "passion for reality,"that also became the driving force behind his film theory and practice. Though his films took on many aspects of neorealism, it can be argued that Pasolini was not in fact a neorealist, but rather he brought a "certain realism" to the screen.

In postwar Italy, during the neorealist period, there was a strong sense that "good and evil were very distinct things." Pasolini and other directors came after, when good and evil were no longer easy to distinguish. Subsequently, Pasolini's early films Accatone and Mamma Roma, depict morally compromised characters on a long, painstaking, and tragic journey, with little hope for success or conflict resolution. The protagonist, Vittorio a.k.a Accatone, develops greatly as a character, though none of the issues are resolved. He goes from being a pimp living comfortably, to selling his prized possessions and manipulating a naive young woman, to trying to become part of the workforce, and slipping back into the life of a thief. In a world where everything is wrong, there can be no right ending, and so Accatone's untimely death is not a sad occasion (it has been foreshadowed since the opening scene) but rather it is an escape from the daily battle of good versus evil, and we are provided with a sense of relief that everything is finally at rest.

Roma, Cittá Aperta

According to Liehm, Roma, Cittá Aperta, is the first film of the neorealist movement, that would inspire numerous neorealist directors to come, such as Federico Fellini, who helped Rosellini during the shooting of Roma. Throughout the film, we notice several techniques that make Roma a classic neorealist film.

First, the themes of death, tragedy, and political turmoil are seen in various other neorealist films such as Antonioni's Zabriskie Point (the two protagonists are caught up in the political unrest of 1970s USA). Although death is not a theme in other neorealist films such as 8 1/2 or La Notte, the protagonist, Marcello Mastroianni, is often considered to be contemplating mortality or going through an existential crisis.

Second, Rossellini chose to use both professional and nonprofessional actors. Those who were trained were Italy's big stars who came from "la revista," like Anna Magnani: the mother of Rome. Equally, those actors who were not trained were picked for their roles because that is exactly who they were in real life. The use of nonprofessional actors has been used time and again, such as by Visconti, who often found his female protagonists in beauty pageants.

Another neorealist trait is rebelling against the establishment, whether it is Hollywood, Cinecittá, or Capitalism. In Roma, the main rebellion is against the Nazis, who are portrayed as stereotypical villainous monsters representing "eternal damnation." Religion, of course, is also commonly explored in neorealism film. Rossellini uses the engagement of Pina (Anna Magnani), a Catholic woman, and her fiancé, a resistance fighter, to represent the unity of the Church and the Communists. The solidarity created between these two opposing forces represents the patriotism of the Italian nation, coming together against the Nazi regime.

On the other hand, I believe the film is not only rebelling against the Nazis. Materialism may also play a role. Liehm explains this through Rosselini's focus on minor details, he calls "the things." The audience becomes very aware of the things in Pina's appartment, such as "her worn jacket and checkered scarf," or the things in Don Pietro's rectory. Materialism is also symbolized by Marina's choosing drugs over helping the resistance movement. She chooses short-term pleasures over the long-term justice and liberty of her country.

Overall, Roma has many examples of neorealist techniques. Whether it is truly the first is hard to say, but it certainly paved the way for many future Italian and Italian-American directors.