Based on the novel by Alberto Moravia, IL CONFORMISTA (The Conformist) was directed by Bernardo Bertolucci in 1970. Starring Jean-Louis Trintignant and Dominique Sanda, this Franco-German-Italian production is a meticulous analysis of an adherence to Fascism motivated by intimate and psychological factors: after being raped and murdered, Marcello tries to erase these traumas by becoming part of a pseudo-normality, notably by joining the Fascist party, getting married and conforming to the expectations of pre-war Italian society...
For IL CONFORMISTA, Bertolucci admits that he chose Georges Delerue in reference to the scores of the Nouvelle Vague but also to his link with Moravia, through Le Mépris (1954). Starting with the sadly lyrical main theme, the French composer uses it throughout the film with different instrumentations and in sometimes dissonant registers. The score moves between source pieces, most of which Delerue composed at the request of the director, and pieces that support the pure drama. The thematic and orchestral diversity is what makes the score so original. We move from the use of ondes Martenot to a shimmering instrumentation enhanced by the lyricism of certain themes, to darker pieces.
Including a few lighter themes, succulent piano-bar themes and also the theme of a love triangle in a bourgeois setting, Georges Delerue had another opportunity to musically depict a closed-door setting in the heavy atmosphere of the war years.
