Customer Reviews

The Sheltering Sky

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

Director Bernardo Bertolucci is the perfect choice for bringing Paul Bowles incredible novel -- one of the most finely crafted of the 20th century and one of my favorite books -- to the screen. Debra Winger and John Malkovich are fine as Kit and Port -- spoiled, bored, EMPTY Americans 'travelling' (NOT tourists) in Morocco just after WWII. Their journey -- one of self-discovery and an attempt to bring some life back into their marriage -- turns from one of idle fascination with an exotic culture (one in which Bowles, the author, immersed himself long ago, one which he loved unabashedly) turns into a trip to hell. Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it.

Campbell Scott is also good in the role of their friend Tunner, and the Lyles -- the fawning Eric and his intolerably superior mother -- are every bit as disgusting as they seem. Some viewers have found these latter two portrayals to be a bit 'over the top' -- but they're completely irritating characters, whining and complaining constantly about the conditions in which they chose to place themselves. They are the biting fleas you cannot remove from your sleeping bag, no matter how long you search for them.

Filmed on location in the African desert, the film resounds and shines with Bertolucci's touch -- if it seems long and slow in places, those characteristic accurately portray the atmosphere of life in desert Morocco. The unbelievable heat would tend to slow things down a bit. The director's use of camera angles, light, and those long, slow, sweeping shots are masterful and perfect. Bowles was consulted every step of the way -- a sign of the respect held for the author and his work by the director -- and he even appears in the film and supplies narration.

I am amazed that a film of this scope, made by a director of Bertolucci's stature, with two of the most critically acclaimed actors of our time, has not appeared on DVD. There's a wonderful documentary called DESERT ROSES: THE MAKING OF 'THE SHELTERING SKY' that would make a nice piece of bonus material for a DVD release. When the film was shown on BRAVO, that network had the good taste to run the documentary along with it. There's also a fine documentary on Bowles available from Mystic Fire Video, PAUL BOWLES IN MOROCCO, that gives an informative portrait of this literary giant.

this film has a haunting quality which makes it almost frightening. Although the young American couple, who are protagonists of this film, travel deeper and deeper into the North African desert in search of a self-revelation that will help them save their relation, they only find self-destruction. In the midst of the frightening nothingness of the inmense landscapes, and the still more frightening nothingness of the increasingly evident impossibility of communication (and not only with the natives), each of them feels compelled to confront what they really are, to look inside themselves. What they see there finally destroys them in a shattering moment (superbly performed) of true, if unbearable, revelation. A very good film, although it doesn't follow many of the aspects of the novel that would help the audience to understand better this story.

Synopsis: Rich, dissatisfied American couple, Port Moresby (John Malkovich) and his wife Kit Debra Winger), travel to exotic North Africa hoping adventure will renew some interest in their failing marriage. The two travelers temporarily become a trio with the addition of fellow American George Tunner (Campbell Scott). George however turns out to be more of a tourist than a traveler* and they soon part company as the Moresby travel deeper and deeper into the vast, arid landscape. The desert experience turns out to be more than anticipated and those who survive will be forever changed. In the final analysis isn't that what a adventure is supposed to accomplish?

`The Sheltering Sky' released in '90 boasts a soundtrack of wonderfully ethnic music and some of the most beautiful cinematography you could ever hope for. Unfortunately in my opinion the plot falls short of delivering the full existential, introspective nature of the storyline. Artistic to a fault but it doesn't generate any interest in the chararacters. `The Sheltering Sky' is well worth a watch for the scenery alone, but it certainly would be a difficult repeat viewing for me.

*[A tourist is someone who thinks about going home the moment they arrive, whereas a traveller might not come back at all].

Some love it and some hate it, but it is nearly impossible to deny that this is compelling filmmaking. Yes, the film does have many different elements from Paul Bowles' novel, but Bertolucci's work is equally mesmerizing and carries one on the same strange journey into north Africa.

Some see Debra Winger as miscast in the role of Kit. I think the three stars, Malkovich, Winger and Campbell Scott are nearly perfect in the film and lend great credibility to this esoteric telling of a complicated and deteriorating relationship. This is one of those films where, in addition to the three leads, there exists a fourth central character...the land itself. If you want to feel as if you have journeyed through the colorful canyons, dusty cities and great desert regions of northern Africa (not always in first-class comfort, mind you) "The Sheltering Sky" will take you there. Don't try too hard to make sense of everything which is happening externally and internally to the characters, as the storytelling is often elliptical, just absorb the simultaneous beauty and tragedy of this unique experience.

I couldn't find the edition I read of "The Sheltering Sky" here on [...] but my copy includes an introduction by Paul Bowles written a year or so before he died. In the introduction, he says "the less said about the film version, the better."

(His only other comment about the film was to mock the filmmakers for trying to make Debra Winger look like his wife Jane and sell the story as a thinly-veiled account of their trip into the Sahara...a trip that Bowles swears he never took with Jane).

I'd seen the movie before reading the book and was intrigued with the story enough to read the novel. Then I watched the movie again. The film is certainly more interesting if you've read the book. That's probably because you can follow the inner thoughts and feelings (or lack of feelings) of the characters, something you'd only have to guess at while watching the film otherwise. It seemed to me that some really good dialogue was left out of the film between Port and Kit, especially in their final scenes. (That some of this dialogue was given to the author during his cameo at the beginning and end of the film didn't make it any easier either).

I love John Malkovich but I think he's not really right for Port. Port comes across (to me) as a vain, handsome but empty man stubbornly trying to free himself from his privileged existence. Malkovich is too intense and interesting, too unpredictable to be a pretty boy foolishly blundering through the Sahara to shake himself off. He's a great actor but his talents obscures this character (again, my opinion).

And I've really learned to appreciate Debra Winger. She really is one of this country's finest actresses, taking on some really tough roles and making them work. When she's left to carry the movie by herself, I wished there had been more scenes earlier to draw her character out more. Three years after this film, she was also great in "Shadowlands" with Anthony Hopkins.

The brutality of the novel is downplayed when Kit wanders off to join a caravan late in the film. In the movie, she becomes involved with an Arab trader like a mini-romance where she eventually gives herself to him. In the novel, she's immediately passed between the two men leading the caravan and accepts her total loss of identity. I think you'll agree there's a huge difference between a romance and a rape, right?

But the film follows the storyline somewhat faithfully and has some really wonderful photography of the Sahara Desert. I thought the ending was a little confusing...until I read the book and rewatched it. I'm sure the movie will be more interesting if you did that...I'm just not sure you'd want to invest that much time in it.

I thought it was worth it.

For some reason no one seems to see this as a period piece, for it is, but without the usual saga styled story or moral lesson. Instead it is a sensitive story of the inadequasies of relationships, especially with young marrieds, and the pathos of both male and female sexuality. That it is also set in a country where nothing has changed for centuries makes the pureness of the period all the more poignant.

The Sheltering Sky is based on Paul Bowles novel, relating how an American couple attempted to rekindle their marriage by journeying into the heart of the Sahara desert. As if afraid of confronting the tensions between them, Port (John Malkovich) agrees to take along with them the wealthy playboy Tunner, at least for the first part of their journey. And so creating a "menage-a-trois" situation, with Port later realising his true feelings for his wife Kit (Debra Winger)But fate deals them a savage hand, as the harsh, unforgiving terrain of the Sahara makes it's own impact on their destiny.

The film owes much to the superb music score, a haunting passionate love theme, played in an austere way, like two people in love, yet both afraid to commit, hinting not only at their concealed passion, but also inner loneliness. With many attractive Arabic themes also.

If you prefer action films, don't think about buying this one. Some may find it long, introspective, and at times, ambiguous, with the narrative often giving way to somethig akin to a national geographic documentary. The remaining leading character spoke only a handful of words for the last three quarters of an hour..But a beautiful, lush, masterful journey which lovers of Africa will not want to miss.

Among the most fulfilling movies in my cynematic experience. Sexual without pornography, humanity without sentimentalizing. A Bertolucci masterpiece. Recommended for anyone who genuinely hates commercial movies and for this reason isn't what you'd call a movie fan.

It's quite a long time since I've seen The Sheltering Sky, and I happened to forgot its name. When I accidentally retraced its name, I rushed giving it a favorite review, which isn't the usual situation I find miself into.

This film is not for realists. Like an abstract or even impressionist painting, the viewer must allow for the emotional and sensual to speak to you. There is another main character in this film...the desert and culture of the place and time. It is more forceful than the self-absorbed personalities of any of the others. Ultimately it consumes them all. And that is also the theme of this movie.

I remember seeing this movie when it first came out; I was intrigued to find it on DVD. However the DVD edition has been edited so harshly that it has totaly trashed the context of the story. I didn't recognize what I was watching; yes the great desert scapes are still there but the story and plot have been destroyed by the editor.