Scanialara You won't be disappointed!

Linkshoch Wonderful Movie

Dotsthavesp I wanted to but couldn't!

StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

ursulahemard Not exactly a Biopic in the proper sense of the word, but an adaption of the autobiographical and massively dramatised novel by the American author, composer and translator Paul Frederic Bowles (December 30, 1910 – November 18, 1999). In 1947 Bowles settled in Morocco, with his wife, Jane Bowles (February 22, 1917 – May 4, 1973) who was an American writer and playwright in her own right. Not having read the book, it's too difficult to me to comment on its truthfulness, however we know that Paul Bowles was cooperating with the screenwriters, it is he who is narrating the film and even appears in a cameo role. It's the story about a couple's search for stimulation not only within their fading passion and closeness but also for their creativity and productivity. Ultimately, from the personal point of view, this turns out to be a sad enterprise, thinking that the constant traveling and external visual changes would rekindle their evaporated love and disconnection; it's a shortsighted forced-upon chase after illusions. John Malkovich and Debra Winger are not the usual Hollywood-like physically attractive love couple 'a la Barbie and Ken' nevertheless it was beautifully exciting to watch them perpetually connect and disconnect mentally and physically. As soon as the protagonist dies, that's when the biopic turns into fiction, as Bowles kept on living till 1999. I was wondering if he wrote this scenario as a sort of a metaphor reflecting on his own life and dismantling relationship.From the famous and truly extraordinary Italian cinematographer, Vittorio Storaro's view, this is a declaration of love to Morocco and its impressive and breathtaking landscapes, culture and nomadic life; a magnificent visual feast and one may even smell all the spices, swatting flies, feel the grit of sand between the teeth, start sweating and get one's blood boiling, not only due to the local heat but also to the carnal sultriness, whilst watching the screen! Full frontal nudity and a few sensual yet tasteful very erotic scenes and therefore I rate it 16+.The gorgeous main-theme of the soundtrack is a total tearjerker to me...for sentimentalists only!Noticed that they drink a lot of MUMM Champagne, oh! how French, and that Eric Vu-An, famous Ballet dancer and ex Etoile de L'Opera de Paris had a secondary very seductive role in this typical Bertolucci epic.

Michael Neumann Two post-WWII Manhattan sophisticates who travel to avoid standing still embark on a soul-searching expedition into the Sahara Desert, where the beautiful but desolate landscapes provide a mirror to their own troubled relationship. The film is nothing if not exotic, presenting some of the purest visions of the desert since Peter O'Toole first rode a camel in 'Lawrence of Arabia'. But the scenario works best when presented as an ethnic travelogue, ushering viewers into an utterly foreign world. The messy marital plot conflicts are, by comparison, all rather vague, especially after Debra Winger goes native in a Bedouin harem. The story never really finds an ending, because there isn't anything to resolve: the characters all exist in a (handsomely photographed) vacuum, and their motivations are even more mysterious than the Arab culture surrounding them. The intrusive (and, as usual, unnecessary) voice-over narration is by novelist Paul Bowles himself, briefly glimpsed in the film's opening scenes.

G K Those who haven't read the novel will be left bewildered. A married American couple (John Malkovich and Debra Winger) travel through North Africa in search of themselves and the desert, and find their relationship threatened by the vastness of the strange landscapes - and by a lecherous companion.Director Bernardo Bertolucci captures the forbidding beauty of the Sahara quite stunningly, but while the film is utterly ravishing to look at, its characters are stiff, self-regarding and unlikable, their predicament is far from compelling, and the psychological drama of Paul Bowles's novel never quite surfaces.

Framescourer There's argument to be had with a number of elements in the film from casting to the narrative adaptation. It's almost impossible to imagine how Bertolucci might have captured North West Africa on film better though. You can see its going to be a remarkable thing to simply look as the principal couple arrive on a rusting pier: a sweeping crane dolly, a long take, the dramatic change in light. Exhilarating.The Sheltering Sky is about this visual appeal and how we give ourselves over to it. The other great theme of the movie is sex, or the temporal incarnation of this great beauty. This is one of the most sexually appealing films I've seen, frank and flawed but often magnetic. No doubt casting the attractive Debra Winger as Kit was part and parcel of this approach - she acts very well too (although I'm a great admirer of Judy Davis who famously regretted being passed over). As Kit's wilful husband Port, Malkovich is arresting if unsympathetic. The secondary cast are good but the great coup for Bertolucci is the location casting and extras who are all wonderful.A film to marvel at. I could have done without the sporadic and unnecessary voice-over but misjudgements are always likely to creep into such a sprawl. 7/10