Product Details

• Actors: Debra Winger, John Malkovich, Campbell Scott, Jill Bennett, Timothy Spall
• Directors: Bernardo Bertolucci
• Writers: Bernardo Bertolucci, Mark Peploe, Paul Bowles
• Producers: Jeremy Thomas, William Aldrich
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Language: Arabic, English, French
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• VHS Release Date: November 10, 1997
• Run Time: 138 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (55 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 630200053X
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #20,372 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential video

Master filmmaker Bernardo Bertolucci applies his considerable talent to this haunting adaptation of the Paul Bowles novel. John Malkovich and Debra Winger play Port and Kit Moresby, characters loosely based on Bowles and his wife Jane, who flee New York for North Africa, where they hope to find mystical truths that will reignite the spark of their marriage. But instead they lose their moral bearings (with help from a friend, played by Campbell Scott, who has an affair with Kit) while traveling deeper and deeper into the Sahara. Before long, what started as a vacation at exotic lodgings has descended into a tour of hell, as they stumble farther and farther into an unknowable spiritual territory. Though long and at times slow-moving, the film features marvelously nuanced acting by Malkovich and Winger and visionary filmmaking that makes the landscape at once picturesque and threatening. --Marshall Fine

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

60 of 68 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars BERTOLUCCI does BOWLES -- c'est magnifique!, January 15, 2002

By	Larry L. Looney (Austin, Texas USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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.

21 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars frightening revelations, March 9, 2003

By	Maria Álvarez Folgado "alfaris5" (castellar del valles, barcelona Spain) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Sheltering Sky (DVD)

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.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars "No Names, No Dates, Just Pieces Of Broken Pottery" ~ The Difference Between Tourist And Traveller, January 4, 2007

By	Brian E. Erland "Rainbow Sphinx" (Brea, CA - USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Sheltering Sky (DVD)

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].