A timeless story of social ills

Restored to its original length and rich color under the supervision of its legendary cameraman Vittorio Storaro in 1994, Bernardo Bertolucci’s 1970 “The Conformist” seems every bit the masterpiece it was when first released by Paramount.

In this dazzling film, Bertolucci manages to combine the bravura style of Fellini, the acute sense of period of Visconti and the fervent political commitment of Elio Petri -- and, better still, a lack of self-indulgence.

Adapted by Bertolucci from an Alberto Moravia novel, “The Conformist” is at once a study of one man and an entire society. A traumatized product of a decayed aristocratic family, Jean-Louis Trintignant’s Marcello, whom we meet at 30 in 1937, is a respected professor of philosophy. He’s also a repressed homosexual so determined to maintain his respectability at all costs that he is ripe for recruitment by a Fascist espionage organization for a deadly mission that he believes will atone for a terrifying youthful incident.

Bertolucci has told Moravia’s story so well, fusing Marcello’s destiny with that of Italy, that when it comes full circle its culminating scene is devastatingly ironic even though it incorporates outrageous theatricality and bald coincidence.

“The Conformist,” which memorably costars Dominique Sanda as a sexually ambiguous beauty, is not merely an indictment of fascism -- with some swipes at ecclesiastical hypocrisy as well -- but also a profound personal tragedy.

*

“The Conformist,” rated R. In Italian with English subtitles. Running time: 2 hours. At Landmark’s Nuart, 11272 Santa Monica Blvd., West Los Angeles, (310) 478-6379.