Rating: 
Summary: A truly intelligent love story
Review: The title of Bertolucci's Besieged is a subtle reference to both main characters--Thandie Newton's Shandurai and David Thewlis' Mr. Kinsky. The former, an African emigre now living in Rome, is both a medical student and Mr. Kinsky's housekeeper. Her state of "besiegement" is the situation of living in Kinsky's confining environment--confining principally because of the owner's emotional isolation, and simultaneously of her husband having been arrested in her native country; she is besieged by exposure to a foreign culture, by forces previously unknown to her.Kinsky's besiegement is, as mentioned above, his emotional isolation. He keeps himself inside his house and is rarely seen venturing outside. Only after he professes his passion for his housekeeper and realizes that he must do more than verbalize his feelings does he break the confines of his physical surroundings and leave the barriers he has besieged himself with. Kinsky, a composer and pianist, is initially seen playing standard Western classical music, but as he becomes more enamored with Shandurai, the rhythms of her African music begin to influence his own compositions. In a beautiful scene, a session at his piano begins with a simple two-note structure and ultimately results in a piece that fervently echoes the hypnotic, percussive feel of the songs she listens to on her cassette player in her downstairs apartment. Kinsky's intensity throughout, paralleled with Shandurai's combined intelligence and semi-bewilderment are what gives this work its resonance. This is a truly memorable film, one worth seeing repeatedly.
Rating:
Summary: Bittersweet and Insatiable
Review: This film has a unique beauty that is hard to find. It stirs of many emotions for me as a woman and an admirer of love. The passionate tension can be felt through out the film as the viewer wonders what will become of the two characters. The ending will leave you speechless with a gasp as your only comment. The original music in this film is rich and emotionally charged, a perfect metaphor for the feelings marinating in the film. It is among my favorites of all time.
Rating: 
Summary: fine performances,beautiful movie.
Review: This is a story that uses music,gestures and expressions to show the character feelings.And i loved that.It tells the story of a girl(Thandie Newton)who gets a job in a house where lives a sensitive,lonely man(David Thewlis).He falls in love with her,but he doesn't know that she's married and her husband is in jail.She then realizes he's struggling(even selling his precious piano!) to get her husband out of jail,just to please her I must confess that i did not like the ending though.It was too quickly,i wanted to see more of what happenned next,so hooked was i in the movie!well..let me forget that.If you like sensitive stories and,most of all,a good movie,you must see Besieged.4 and half stars.
Rating:
Summary: Besieged Is Bertolucci At His Most Beautiful!
Review: This is his best film since Last Tango In Paris. It is a wonderful love story set first in Africa and then in Europe, between an English pianist-composer and an African medical student. This movie shows rather than tells; everything is done visually with a minimum of dialogue and a wonderful accompanying soundtrack. Both actors, even though normally outstanding, exceed even their own best work in this performance. The hero-pianist, Thewlis, is perfection in his understanding of self sacrifice for the one you love.
Rating:
Summary: A rare find
Review: This movie was wonderful. All too often it seems these days, a dramatic movie is full of histrionics and melodrama. This movie is so wonderfully spare. So much of the acting is done with the eyes and the face. Thandie was beautiful and David was superb. My friend and I were both hurting by the end. It's wonderful when a movie can move you so much.
Rating:
Summary: Meeting of two sensibilities
Review: Two sensitive, thoughtful, intelligent people from very diverse cultures, brought together by music. This movie is visually gorgeous as well as a testament to human kindness and understanding.
Rating:
Summary: Perfection.
Review: Unbelievable film. Told almost entirely with images and a minimum of dialogue. This guy is a genius. Now, where's that soundtrack?
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