The Sheltering Sky 1990

     This film is based on a novel written by Paul Bowles.  The American artist couple Port and Kit Moresby travel aimlessly through Africa.  They are searching for new experiences that could give a new sense of meaning to their relationship.  But, the flights to distant regions lead them both only deeper into despair.

     The book is definitely a work of great art and also is the movie.  They tend to blend together in the mind.  There is powerful imagery when viewing it in a theater and not on DVD.  I was chilled by the psychological harshness of the plot.  I was charmed the first time I saw the film but appreciated it more when I saw it a second time after I read the novel.  Maybe this means that the film doesn't make it on its own?  And, if you are gripped by the movie, reading the novel will reveal even more in depth. 

     Some people seem to think that there is no plot or just a very thin one?  Actually, it is not thin but it’s not directly at the surface.  You will  need to concentrate and pay attention to further dig into the film.  If as a viewer, you don’t like that or feel that a movie should just willing present itself to you, this is not your type of movie?  3 1/2* (I liked this movie)

138 min, Adventure directed by Bernardo Bertolucci and written by Paul Bowels and Mark People with Debra Winger, John Malkovich, Campbell Scott, Jill Bennett, Timothy Spall, ERic Vu-An, Amina Annabi, Philippe Morier-Genoud, Sotigui Koyate, Tom Novembre, Mohamed Ben Smail, Kamel Cherif.

Note:  Imdb 6.8* out of 10* with 11,917 reviews, Roger Ebert 2*, Rotten Tomatoes 50% with 26 critic reviews 79% with 5000+ audience scores, Letterboxd 3/4* out of 5* with 26 fans, Amazon 4.3* out of 5* with 266 reviews.

Special Note:  Natasha Richardson said she wrote Bernardo Bertolucci a long letter pleading for the role of Kit!  Instead the role was given to Debra Winger.  John Malovich’s character, Port Moresby has the same name as the capital city of Papua New Guinea.  Nicolas Roeg wanted desperately to get the chance to direct  reportedly he was very disappointed when he was not chosen.  Paul Bowles, author and thinly disguised subject of the autobiographical novel on which the film is based said, "It should never have been filmed?  The ending is idiotic and the rest is pretty bad."  This quote comes from a rare interview that was part of the film Let it Come Down:  The Life of Paul Bowles 1998.  Ellen Barkin was considered for the role of Kit Moresby and in the end the role was given to Debra Winger.  British actress Jill Bennett, former wife of British playwright and actor John Osborne, committed suicide shortly after filming ended on The Sheltering Sky.  This picture is narrated by the film's own source novelist Paul Bowles.

Mistakes:  During the final sequence, when Kit is back at the Grand Hotel and she is waiting in the car, she is wearing white shoes.  But just after, when she escapes and is walking in the streets, she is wearing brown sandals.  There is a moment when Port is with Kit in her room, she is sitting and he is caressing her belly.  A good deal of pubic hair is notoriously visible but immediately follows a closer shot in which she is completely covered.  The crew is reflected in the mirror when Kit gets out of bed alone and the crew is reflected in the bus window before Port bites his tongue.