The Movie the Conformist - Essay Example

The Conformist The main objective of the movie is to make the viewers know the importance of various works of art. In the movie, the conformist, Marcello, is the hero, and for this reason, he has everything under his control. He struggles with many conflicting ideas that could not be resolved by anyone else apart from him. The whole movie has various themes. The two themes that the movie focuses on are silence and absolute secrecy. It is evident that Marcello’s character traits are the center of the movie.

Marcello has a wife who loves him so much. In addition to this, his colleagues respect him because he is a man of integrity and is evidently very shrewd. Because of this, he is assigned a duty by his bosses; to kill a professor. This is because he has some power within him and has worked with the Italian police. The period in which he worked with the police was during the reign of Mussolini. He goes into exile to show his loyalty to the state. The movie clearly depicts the major psychological needs of the fascism of the Italians whereby conformity easily turns to obsession.

The desire of the people leads them to engage in very cruel acts. Marcello’s parents do not satisfy his childhood desires and that is why he becomes greedy. He becomes very furious with people who are close to him. At home, he has a very small room where he studies with several items scattered in the house. He even enjoys the privacy to hold an old pistol that his father once had. This perhaps makes him want to join the police force. He also loves objects that are forbidden. He is also evidently very possessive which later makes him suffer (Moravia and Calliope 4).

Marcello marries a wife who loves him very much. He finds a strange woman, who marries him during his stay in exile. The woman does not care if Marcello is from a place she has never been to. Marcello is a competent police officer and a silent one too. He can be used to perform a duty that must remain secret. He is assigned to kill his professor, something that he is against. This makes him flee into exile. Falling in love with the woman makes Marcello want to share all that was hidden inside him.

The woman is so compelling, that Marcello decides to let the cat out of the sack. Later, his life changes abruptly because of a woman. His corrupt nature reveals itself to his wife and all the people that are close to him. The philosophical needs of Marcello are to be fulfilled this time by a woman who was not initially his. He is very close to the professor who is blind. For this reason, Marcello decides to take the professor’s wife just because he cannot see what is going on. Sight becomes one of the factors that make him take another man’s wife.

After his life is torn apart, he decides to see a priest and confesses everything about his dark past. Marcello’s refusal to live as an enlightened person raises eyebrows about what he is planning to do. He is very suspicious based on the fact that he is schooled and read widely. His antagonistic nature earns him many friends who have no idea of his many secrets.