Alegorija smrti ili smrt alegorije
Allegory of Death or the Death of Allegory

Summary/Abstract: In Bertolucci's "Conformist" there is a scene in which the conformist - meets his one-time professor of philosophy. They evoke old memories and, in that context, mention professor's lecture on Plato's allegory of the cave. The scene, as well as the film itself, happens in fascist Italy between two world wars. In between those old days and the time of the meeting, professor had openly declared himself as a fascist and became a member of the Party. His ex-student, like a real conformist and petit bourgeois, is still reluctant and perplexed. He hasn't yet emancipated himself from the ideology of humanisam and emancipation. That's exactly why he mentions those long gone times and the things his professor had lectured then. It seems to him that professor has denied and betrayed his own words. The latter, of course, thinks differently. The scene ends before the end, in the middle of discussion. We have no way of knowing who "won", who turned out to be "right". Both positions are suspended, left to flote freely in their simultaneity and equally valuable. We are, in fact, deprived of a so-called right interpretation.

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