Rating: 
Summary: Shelter From Thyself
Review: "We are not tourists, we are travellers" says Port Moresby(John Malkovich) as he, his wife Kit(Debra Winger) and their garrulous friend George Tunner(Campbell Scott) arrive on the shores of Tangiers. Tunner, young and rich as he is, seems to be accompanying them for the hell of it. Why exactly the two principle protagonists choose to embark on such a labyrinthine and possibly one way journey deep into the Sahara is never made clear. There is ofcourse that universal, hokey and meaningless reason of "finding oneself in an uncorrupted land". If I had to guess, then I would say that this couple is trying escape from themselves, from their probationary relationship with each other. Perhaps the ruggedness of this adventure will filter their emotions, purify the love that is obviously still there. Or maybe they were just bored. One thing for sure, Bertolucci's epic requires you to do a lot of guessing. Initially the film looks like its going to be an intriguing love triangle drama. There are even hints of an unconventional sexual relationship between husband and wife. For instance, after Port spends the night with a Nomadic prostitute, he returns to find Tunner in his bedroom(seperate but adjoining his wife's), "What was he doing in my bedroom?" he asks her over dinner. "He was waiting for me to get dressed?" she answers quite truthfully."But you didn't tell me where you where last night?" she counters."You didn't ask" he replies. "And I'm never going to" she finally says. Alas, this triangle is quickly abandoned by the screenplay in favour of several self-contained episodes as the trio travel from one town to another. A sub-plot involving a mother/son duo of fellow expatriots who may or may not be con artists is introduced and never followed up. Infact The Sheltering Sky suffers a complete narrative meltdown at about its midway point. We get a final hour that seems like a National Geographic special, only without the commentary. Yet I was transfixed by the film's visual splendor even when I was sure it was going nowhere. Like the Egyptian desert(which I often observe travelling from Cairo to Alexandria and back), the Sahara desert is vast succession of freeform sandhills that are silhouetted by the wind into what looks like brown cream. It is as beautiful as it is harsh. Bernardo Bertolucci and his cinematographer Vittorio Storaro exploit both of these qualities to maximum effect. There are moments in The Sheltering Sky when you are exhilerated by the desert's vastness and others when you are suffocated by the endless gusts of sand. The Sheltering Sky marks the reteaming of director Bertolucci, co-screenwriter Mark Peploe and producer Jeremy Thomas after the multi-Oscar winning The Last Emperor. It is interesting to note that in both films, the protagonist(s) are caught in a chain of event beyond their control. But in the vastly superior The Last Emperor that was precisely the point, a clueless young man who was played for a fool by the many opportunists around him. In The Sheltering Sky there are no opportunists, the characters have placed themselves in this position for reason known only to themsleves. The setting of the film draws comparison to The English Patient, but Minghella's Oscar winner is a multi-layered masterpiece about obligation, possessivness and the love affair that fuels them, within a still more fascinating framework of war. The Sheltering Sky is not a masterpiece, it just looks like one. In the end I had the feeling I was watching a stunning, if largely inexplicable visual companion to a novel I hadn't read. By all acounts Paul Bowles's source novel is a masterwork that explores its themes(whatever they are) to the fullest extent. I'm inclined to agree with the reviewer below that the film has no story, something I generally don't mind. What bothers me is that for such an important looking film, it is one with no theme, no purpose for being. As a journey into an exotic land, The Sheltering Sky is an experience worth having, even if we're experiencing it through the eyes of characters who for 137 minutes remain just as foreign as the land they occupy.
Rating:
Summary: Shelter From Thyself
Review: "We are not tourists, we are travellers" says Port Moresby(John Malkovich) as he, his wife Kit(Debra Winger) and their garrulous friend George Tunner(Campbell Scott) arrive on the shores of Tangiers. Tunner, young and rich as he is, seems to be accompanying them for the hell of it. Why exactly the two principle protagonists choose to embark on such a labyrinthine and possibly one way journey deep into the Sahara is never made clear. There is ofcourse that universal, hokey and meaningless reason of "finding oneself in an uncorrupted land". If I had to guess, then I would say that this couple is trying escape from themselves, from their probationary relationship with each other. Perhaps the ruggedness of this adventure will filter their emotions, purify the love that is obviously still there. Or maybe they were just bored. One thing for sure, Bertolucci's epic requires you to do a lot of guessing. Initially the film looks like its going to be an intriguing love triangle drama. There are even hints of an unconventional sexual relationship between husband and wife. For instance, after Port spends the night with a Nomadic prostitute, he returns to find Tunner in his bedroom(seperate but adjoining his wife's), "What was he doing in my bedroom?" he asks her over dinner. "He was waiting for me to get dressed?" she answers quite truthfully."But you didn't tell me where you where last night?" she counters."You didn't ask" he replies. "And I'm never going to" she finally says. Alas, this triangle is quickly abandoned by the screenplay in favour of several self-contained episodes as the trio travel from one town to another. A sub-plot involving a mother/son duo of fellow expatriots who may or may not be con artists is introduced and never followed up. Infact The Sheltering Sky suffers a complete narrative meltdown at about its midway point. We get a final hour that seems like a National Geographic special, only without the commentary. Yet I was transfixed by the film's visual splendor even when I was sure it was going nowhere. Like the Egyptian desert(which I often observe travelling from Cairo to Alexandria and back), the Sahara desert is vast succession of freeform sandhills that are silhouetted by the wind into what looks like brown cream. It is as beautiful as it is harsh. Bernardo Bertolucci and his cinematographer Vittorio Storaro exploit both of these qualities to maximum effect. There are moments in The Sheltering Sky when you are exhilerated by the desert's vastness and others when you are suffocated by the endless gusts of sand. The Sheltering Sky marks the reteaming of director Bertolucci, co-screenwriter Mark Peploe and producer Jeremy Thomas after the multi-Oscar winning The Last Emperor. It is interesting to note that in both films, the protagonist(s) are caught in a chain of event beyond their control. But in the vastly superior The Last Emperor that was precisely the point, a clueless young man who was played for a fool by the many opportunists around him. In The Sheltering Sky there are no opportunists, the characters have placed themselves in this position for reason known only to themsleves. The setting of the film draws comparison to The English Patient, but Minghella's Oscar winner is a multi-layered masterpiece about obligation, possessivness and the love affair that fuels them, within a still more fascinating framework of war. The Sheltering Sky is not a masterpiece, it just looks like one. In the end I had the feeling I was watching a stunning, if largely inexplicable visual companion to a novel I hadn't read. By all acounts Paul Bowles's source novel is a masterwork that explores its themes(whatever they are) to the fullest extent. I'm inclined to agree with the reviewer below that the film has no story, something I generally don't mind. What bothers me is that for such an important looking film, it is one with no theme, no purpose for being. As a journey into an exotic land, The Sheltering Sky is an experience worth having, even if we're experiencing it through the eyes of characters who for 137 minutes remain just as foreign as the land they occupy.
Rating: 
Summary: A must see
Review: A movie that captures the most unimaginable out come...A movie to be seen more than once..Took me to the limits..great Director and Producer of coarce..Loved "The old mans inner thoughts at the beginning and the end"
Rating:
Summary: Very Good
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: Stick a fork in it- redux
Review: Attention- liking this film does not prove you're more insightful or emotional or have a higher capacity for love or whatever. Terrible, terrible movie. It goes nowhere for no purpose. May appeal to people who find wealthy, grown men and women pissing and moaning about the fact that they're shallow pukes, cute.
Rating:
Summary: Enough Talent Here To Reach The "Sky"
Review: Bertolucci's adaptation of Paul Bowles novel seems to be perfect. Truly wonderful performances by Debra Winger and John Malkovich. Not to mention supporting players like Campbell Scott. Priceless photography by Vittorio Storaro. And as usual with a Bertolucci film,grade "A" directing. Then why am I only giving this movie one star? This might be a question you might be asking yourself. Here's why. This film lacks a story! It's as clear and simple as that. The beginning starts out promising,as we see the Moresby's(Winger and Malkovich)headed on a trip to the Sahara along with a friend (Scott)named Tunner. As the film progresses the story seems to have gotten "lost". We can't understand why the movie has went pass the 20 minute mark. The longer the film goes on,the more and more you start to wonder,what am I watching? Visually this is perfect! Story wise,this is nothing more than a time waster. Which I'm really sorry to say because it seemed like this movie had so much going for it,and to be ruined due to the fact there was such a lack of story. Look for something else Bertolucci fans!
Rating:
Summary: "EXESTENTIAL" NONSENSE.....
Review: Bringing Paul Bowles to the screen was risky business and they knew it. This is one of the worst movies I have ever seen. Rich, jaded people in search of "something more" journey to Morroco and end up shattered and destroyed against breathtaking cinematography. It's all supposed to be about spirititual enlightenment but it comes off as pompous and preachy. Nothing subtle here. It features one of the longest death scenes on record and the descent into hell of Debra Winger as a wayward wife who ends up a tatooed concubine of a harem keeper traveling the desert. Stupifyngly dull and tiresome in it's heavy handed moralizing, this is a...of a movie. And it's way overlong...
Rating: 
Summary: Why isn't this on DVD?
Review: Can somebody out there please put this film on DVD? It's incredible! The cinematography, the acting, the direction, everything. And where in the world has Debra Winger been? Doesn't she make films anymore? Please. DVD!
Rating:
Summary: BERTOLUCCI does BOWLES -- c'est magnifique!
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Rates in my top five of the last 40 years
Review: 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.
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