Details

Release year: 1970

Storyline

A weak-willed Italian man becomes a fascist flunky who goes abroad to arrange the assassination of his old teacher, now a political dissident.

Top credits

Directors

Bernardo Bertolucci

Writers

Cast

Jean-Louis Trintignant — Marcello
Stefania Sandrelli — Giulia
Gastone Moschin — Manganiello
Dominique Sanda — Anna

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Awards

0 wins & 1 nomination

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Did you know

• The hospital that Clerici's father is at is actually the Teatro Libera (Free Theater) at the Palazzo dei Congressi in EUR, a massive complex on the outskirts of Rome that was begun as a monument to the Fascist Government. This massive, modernist white marble complex and theater have appeared in several other films and television shows.

• When Clerici asks the operator to connect him with Professor Quadri, the telephone number he gives is the (one-time) telephone number of Bernardo Bertolucci's idol Jean-Luc Godard. When Quadri answers the phone, Clerici recalls one of his lectures in which Quadri said "The time for reflection is over. Now is the time for action." This is the opening line in Godard's film The Little Soldier (1963).

• Alberto Moravia's novel is told from an omniscient point of view. For the film adaptation, Bernardo Bertolucci chose to tell the story more from the viewpoint of the protagonist, whose memories and feelings are deliberately misleading and unreliable. Bertolucci's non-linear approach to the film's timeline only adds to the film's stream-of-consciousness feeling.