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school's adjoining room where Anna offers herself to Clerici, a stylistic effect related to the
fact that 'she is going to the slaughterhouse> (Goldin, 1972: 65). In general, reiterating the
auteurist influence that Bertolucci considers himself to have on his work, a notion to which
this study generally subscribes while also highlighting the assistance of other professionals in
certain productions, the director unambiguously declared his involvement in controlling the
lighting of The Conformist 'in the old, truly professional classical sense' (Goldin, 1972: 65).
A good example of the colour scheme and lighting is featured in the sequence
portraying a dramatic moment of truth for Clerici, during which the colour scheme is nearly
reduced to black and white and the low-key noir photography is used almost didactically. Set
in the kitchen of the dance hall, the take depicts Manganiello aggressively questioning
Clerici's ambiguous behaviour. To free himself Clerici knocks a ceiling light which swings in
front of his face, so that it is kept partly in shadow; the effect continues even when the
struggle has finished. This oscillation of darkness and light arguably represents Clerici's
hesitation over deciding between life and death for Quadri. The scene's closure is equally
symbolic, the camera lingering on Clerici who stands against the wall in complete darkness,
underlining the fact that he has failed to extricate himself from the mission, and implying that
his last hope for personal salvation has gone.
This symbolic use of the contrast between light and dark reaches its apex in the scene
which portrays the insidiousness of the Fascist regime while also conveying Bertolucci's
perspective about the responsibilities of the bourgeoisie during that period. The scene is
important because it features a character and narrative events entirely invented by Bertolucci:
Italo, a blind intellectual who is a political commentator at a radio station, introduces Clerici
to 'II Colonnello', who works for the secret police. The spatial organization of the radio
station set is emblematic with two areas separated by a glass partition; one is occupied by a
female trio singing a cheerful song 'Who is happier than me?\ and it is powerfully
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