Results tagged “theconformist”

This week’s repertory options want to take New York moviegoers around the world and back again via the silver screen. But spring has finally sprung like so many daffodils in the new theatrical releases category as well, so there are lots to see all over the city this weekend.

If you're feeling a bit unsatisfied with The Dukes of Hazzards or any other disappointing summer blockbuster, we strongly suggest heading to the Film Forum to catch Bertolucci's The Conformist. Set in 1938 Rome, the political/psychological thriller follows a disturbed young man with a scarred childhood whose obsession with "normalcy" leads him to extremes. From marrying a "petty bourgeoise" who's "all bed and kitchen" to combining his Paris honeymoon with a Fascist murder mission to kill his mentor, an exiled philosophy professor (which Bertolucci considers a metaphor for "killing" his own cinematic mentor – the legendary Jean-Luc Godard), he portrays the desperate attempt to achieve a "normal life." Tracing the rise and fall of Fascism, this beautifully directed and often humorous film boasts some gorgeous scenes as the protagonist reflects on his past – visiting his father in an insane asylum, embracing his newlywed on a train as the sun sets, and two seductive wives publicly dancing the tango (our personal favorite).

The best part of a panel about "LOVE" sponsored by The Week magazine was when Harold Evans asked Bernardo Bertolucci, via a patchy connection from Rome, about love. Bertolucci said, "What love? Like I have passion for cinema!" and then he went into a story about how he loved Jean-Luc Godard and his work so much that the first time he met JLG, Bertolucci threw up on him - "That was the manifestation of my love for him." Cinephilia and gastrointestinal distress - that's Gothamist in a nutshell!