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from cinephile viewers, who respond emotionally to the character's sensuality while
simultaneously recognizing the director's elaboration of noir signifiers. Sanda plays three
roles; Clerici's first glimpse of her is at the Fascist ministry, lying on an employee's desk.
She resurfaces as a prostitute whom Clerici meets at a Fascist brothel, before taking her
principal role as Quadri's wife. Clerici naturally experiences an uncanny sense of deja vu
with regard to Anna Quadri, who, in his eyes, represents a juxtaposition of her former
incarnations in the film, and to viewers she becomes a hybrid into which ihefemmefatale's
traditional qualities are distilled, the different layers of characterization merging to create a
sexually independent woman under whose influence the male protagonist feels torn between
desire and suspicion. Anna's image corresponds to the iconography outlined in Janey Place's
analysis, in terms of costume, grooming, and accessories such as cigarettes which are a
trademark femmefatale accessory (Place, 1998: 45).
In The Conformist, Anna's clothes reflect the fe/male function of trousers and slacks -
to underline an independent, almost masculine
attitude (see image) - together with outfits such as
figure hugging dresses to emphasize her seductive
femininity. In addition, her long hair and leggy
physique embody the physical characteristics, which,
according to Place, are important in the early sequences of a film noir in terms of signposting
a character's potential as a prospective femmefatale - an embodiment of unrestrained female
sexuality. Place notes that the first view of femmes fatales such as Velma in Murder My
Sweet and Cora in The Postman Always Rings Twice 'is a significant, appreciative shot of
their bare legs, a directed glance [...] from the viewpoint of the male character who is to be
seduced' (Place, 1998: 45) and this resembles the first shot of Sanda in The Conformist. It is a
view - from Clerici's perspective - of her left leg as it swings down from the desk she is
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