A weak-willed Italian man becomes a fascist flunky who goes abroad to arrange the assassination of his old teacher, now a political dissident.
Cinematography
Storaro's light doesn't illuminate—it interrogates. Every frame is a thesis.
Direction
Bertolucci at 29, already a control freak genius with a camera.
Production
Art deco fascism so gorgeous it makes you complicit too.
Director
Bernardo Bertolucci
Jean-Louis Trintignant
Marcello Clerici
Stefania Sandrelli
Giulia
Gastone Moschin
Manganiello
Dominique Sanda
Anna Quadri
Enzo Tarascio
Professor Quadri
Fosco Giachetti
The Colonel
José Quaglio
Italo Montanari
Yvonne Sanson
Giulia's Mother
Milly
Marcello's Mother
Alessandro Haber
Drunk Blind Man
Luciano Rossi
Blind Blond
Massimo Sarchielli
Blind Man
Giuseppe Addobbati
Marcello's Father
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The legendary 'dance hall' scene with Anna and Giulia was largely improvised after Dominique Sanda simply started dancing. Bertolucci kept rolling.
Bertolucci adapted from Alberto Moravia's novel while processing his own Communist Party disillusionment; the film became a Rosetta Stone for understanding how intellectuals sleepwalk into atrocity.
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