Both The Conformist’s Marcello Clerici and The Conversation’s Harry Caul are racked with deep and abiding guilt that color their motivations and actions throughout each film. The first man, tortured by a childhood trauma for which he feels tremendous guilt, reacts by embracing fascism, seeking to absolve the abnormality he feels marked with through its radical uniformity. The second experiences guilt as a result of an occupational hazard—the unintended external consequences of his surveillance recordings. In order to cope he distances himself from the matters of his clients (and everyone else), and obsesses over his own privacy, rendering him detached, and paranoid. The guilt of each man will grow over the course of each film into something
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The dark tones and rigid symmetry of the shot, as well as the presence of the uniformed guards enhance this trait. Marcello appears in close-up, as a priest takes his confession. Marcello confesses that he has committed many sins, even murder, with an ease that suggests he feels little guilt. He begins telling the story of his encounter with Lino, returning to the flashback sequence. The two climb out of Lino’s parked car and play on the lawn. Marcello then chases Lino into an empty house, up a stairway, through a room full of billowing white sheets, and (after a pause into) a doorway of light— the entire experience seems ethereal. On voiceover Lino promises to give Marcello a pistol. However, when Lino unlocks the door to a bedroom Marcello flees, Lino catches him and throws him into the bedroom, marking a drastic shift in tone. Three separate shots frame Lino , vertically, standing over Marcello who lies prostrate on the bed, establishes his dominant and almost militaristic aggression. Lino he then removes his hat, revealing his androgynous appearance, Marcello sits up and kneels over him, curiously runs his fingers through Lino’s hair. The shift in their positions shows Marcello taking control of the scene. Even after Lino becomes aggressive Marcello is fascinated with him. This decision to engage with Lino is marked with a slight pause, as is his decision to …show more content…
Paralyzed, he watches her scream hysterically at him through his car window until she flees. After the fall of fascism the Quadris’ death takes on a new significance for Marcello. As he wanders the city with Italo, he encounters Lino, who has evidently survived. Marcello breaks down, attacking him, renounces him loudly as a fascist and pederast, and claims he murdered the Quadris. Marcello’s rage when he makes this final accusation intimates the new level of guilt he now experiences over these deaths—which after the fall of fascism are all for naught. At the fall of fascism Marcello loses both his salvation disappears, and the system that demanded it. In his hysteria he proceeds to denounce his helpless blind friend Italo as a fascist—but in post-fascist Italy informing on others does not offer him conformity, and conformity does not offer salvation. As a passing crowd sweeps up Italo, Marcello is left behind again, alone and different. However, now, perhaps it is his hand in the murder of political exiles that sets him apart. The final shot finds Marcello staring back at a naked young pauper, an image of his past, and perhaps an object of desire—encapsulating the difference that pushed him toward his current state of
The dark tones and rigid symmetry of the shot, as well as the presence of the uniformed guards enhance this trait. Marcello appears in close-up, as a priest takes his confession. Marcello confesses that he has committed many sins, even murder, with an ease that suggests he feels little guilt. He begins telling the story of his encounter with Lino, returning to the flashback sequence. The two climb out of Lino’s parked car and play on the lawn. Marcello then chases Lino into an empty house, up a stairway, through a room full of billowing white sheets, and (after a pause into) a doorway of light— the entire experience seems ethereal. On voiceover Lino promises to give Marcello a pistol. However, when Lino unlocks the door to a bedroom Marcello flees, Lino catches him and throws him into the bedroom, marking a drastic shift in tone. Three separate shots frame Lino , vertically, standing over Marcello who lies prostrate on the bed, establishes his dominant and almost militaristic aggression. Lino he then removes his hat, revealing his androgynous appearance, Marcello sits up and kneels over him, curiously runs his fingers through Lino’s hair. The shift in their positions shows Marcello taking control of the scene. Even after Lino becomes aggressive Marcello is fascinated with him. This decision to engage with Lino is marked with a slight pause, as is his decision to …show more content…
Paralyzed, he watches her scream hysterically at him through his car window until she flees. After the fall of fascism the Quadris’ death takes on a new significance for Marcello. As he wanders the city with Italo, he encounters Lino, who has evidently survived. Marcello breaks down, attacking him, renounces him loudly as a fascist and pederast, and claims he murdered the Quadris. Marcello’s rage when he makes this final accusation intimates the new level of guilt he now experiences over these deaths—which after the fall of fascism are all for naught. At the fall of fascism Marcello loses both his salvation disappears, and the system that demanded it. In his hysteria he proceeds to denounce his helpless blind friend Italo as a fascist—but in post-fascist Italy informing on others does not offer him conformity, and conformity does not offer salvation. As a passing crowd sweeps up Italo, Marcello is left behind again, alone and different. However, now, perhaps it is his hand in the murder of political exiles that sets him apart. The final shot finds Marcello staring back at a naked young pauper, an image of his past, and perhaps an object of desire—encapsulating the difference that pushed him toward his current state of