Rating: 
Summary: Never Wink At A Naked Wench
Review: "I was looking at the gates of heaven embodied in the female form" says the bitter and wheelchair bound Oscar(Peter Cayote) of his wife Mimi(Emmanuelle Siegner). The reluctant listener is Nigel(Hugh Grant), a man most people would politely refer to as a bookish English type, but would more honestly label him a square. They are all travelling on a luxurious Ocean liner where Nigel and his appropriately uptight wife Fiona(Kristen Scott Thomas) are headed for India where they hope to rekindle their romance after six years of marriage. As for Oscar and Mimi, well they're headed "much much further". The stage is set for Roman Polanski's risque and lurid melodrama which runs the risk of being taken seriously. Bitter Moon is infact a sophisticated joke by a frustrated autuer. It all starts when Nigel wonders into the ship's lounge, sees the voluptuous Mimi dancing like the siren that she is, and is immediately smitten. Offscreen Mimi's bitter husband, Oscar observes the lust his wife has stirred in the Brit. A little later Nigel is cornered by Oscar and is compelled (by Oscar's nagging and his own unacknowledged voyueristic desires) to listen to their story. Oscar narrates, and Polanski obliges with flashbacks to Paris where Oscar first met his future wife. We learn that Oscar was a frustrated and unpublished writer, and in his account of a relationship that went from bliss to boredom to sadism and finally vengeance, there is that wretched stench of those trashy romance novels. Aside from the aforementioned quote, he says of his first impression of her: "She had a mix of sexual maturity and childish naivete". When their relationship had lost its spark, he says: "Our credit was running out, we were headed for sexual bankruptcy". When he finally gives up on their relationship and decides to indulge in heedless promiscuity, he says:"Everytime I look into one woman's eyes I see reflections of the next". Given the success of the likes of Danielle Steel, its actually surprising that this guy was never published. Back on the Ocean liner, a less interesting story of the sexual awakening of the clueless English couple is told in parallel to the Paris story. But Grant plays Nigel as completely clueless, so Oscar's manupilation of him is never that interesting. I found myself wishing Polanski would get back to the flashbacks. It is there that his intentions are slowly revealed. I have read reviews of Bitter Moon calling it "a story of erotic obsession" and things of that nature. And Polanski, with the aid of Tonino Delli Colli's elegant cinematography and Vengalis's sensuous score, goes to great lengths to make Bitter Moon look like a serious film about obsession and dependance, but Cayote's narration and the absurdly graphic sex scenes give him away. As this lurid story progresses, the vein of black comedy hinted at in the beginning gets thicker. The rabbit is finally out of that hat in a hysterical S&M scene involving a pig mask that, unfortunately, can never be quoted from here. It is to Polanski's great credit that he never winks, never acknowledges the absurdity of his film. Roman Polanski's films have always been very personal. He has alienated many critics by repeatedly casting his wife(wives)in his films. There is actually a scene in Bitter Moon where Cayote describes some preverse S&M he and Mimi had engaged in(thankfully left to viewer's imagination), and the stunned Nigel barks at him "For God's sake man." An intersting way to look at Bitter Moon is to think of the Cayote character as a stand in for Polanski, and Nigel as the shocked critics yelling "For God's sake man." Think about it, Oscar is so obsessed with Seigner/Mimi that he is willing to endure her torturing him, Polanski is so obsessed with Seigner that he is willing to make a silly melodrama such as Bitter Moon starring her. But unlike Oscar, Polanski has the intelligence to standback and find the whole thing funny. Bittermoon is a ridiculous film, but it has a perverse sense of humour that makes it special.
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful, intense, vile commentary on passion & violence..
Review: ...in relationships. I would technically give this film 4.5 stars. It is a biting tribute to how great passion can burn away and turn into resentment and hatred. Sometimes we get so used to intense feelings that we cannot (or do not want) to tell the difference between longing and needing and dependency. In this movie, the lovers display a wide range of emotion that is certainly not unheard of among intense relationships and passionate people. Once they've peaked emotionally and sexually, partners begin to make negative associations about their lives and their current other, and eventually habit, boredom, and general resentment sink in. But the question is, is a love that has ever burned that intensely ever able to completely exhonerate itself? One passionate feeling takes over for another, and the vicious love/hate cycle begins - that's when sometimes it seems better to feel pain than nothing at all.
Self-esteem issues, sadism/masochism, complacency and codependency permeate the relationships in this movie. I think it's an excellent commentary on modern relationships, and definately worth watching for the performances, the ride, and the ending.
Rating: 
Summary: "Bitter Moon" - so horrifying......so hilarious
Review: ...Roman Polanski. I saw "Bitter Moon" in 1994 at a St. Louis theatre, and I was rewarded with the sort of transcendent hilarity for which I had longed. The director's searing, sardonic tale of sexual perversity, jealousy and betrayal could have been a withering tale; instead, in Polanski's skilled hands, disillusionment proves subordinate to humor - moral judgmentalism gives way to merriment - at least on the part of this viewer. Taken literally (or autobiographically), of course "Moon" is distressing. If the storied director meant this treatise as a rational discourse on human sexuality, then it's as depressing in its own way as "Humanae Vitae" was decades earlier. At face value, both documents convey the same message: Beware the surrender of sex, because disaster will ensue. But Pope Paul wasn't funny - Polanski is exceedingly funny. The late pontiff purported moral absolutism - the Polish director claims no such omnipotence. My delight in this film was significant, exuding as it did from someone whose former rigidity was so obtuse that patent leather shoes were anathema. And when you've been in the psychic equivalent of a five-year labor, Polanski's intelligence and humor were akin to manna from the gods. Mercifully, those bleak days are now a thing of the past.....recovery was mine at last....but I have never forgotten my uproarious laughter in a small, darkened theatre in St. Louis nearly a decade ago. For the woman I was then, Polanski's genius was a rare jewel to behold.
Rating:
Summary: "Bitter Moon" - so horrifying......so hilarious
Review: ...Roman Polanski. I saw "Bitter Moon" in 1994 at a St. Louis theatre, and I was rewarded with the sort of transcendent hilarity for which I had longed. The director's searing, sardonic tale of sexual perversity, jealousy and betrayal could have been a withering tale; instead, in Polanski's skilled hands, disillusionment proves subordinate to humor - moral judgmentalism gives way to merriment - at least on the part of this viewer. Taken literally (or autobiographically), of course "Moon" is distressing. If the storied director meant this treatise as a rational discourse on human sexuality, then it's as depressing in its own way as "Humanae Vitae" was decades earlier. At face value, both documents convey the same message: Beware the surrender of sex, because disaster will ensue. But Pope Paul wasn't funny - Polanski is exceedingly funny. The late pontiff purported moral absolutism - the Polish director claims no such omnipotence. My delight in this film was significant, exuding as it did from someone whose former rigidity was so obtuse that patent leather shoes were anathema. And when you've been in the psychic equivalent of a five-year labor, Polanski's intelligence and humor were akin to manna from the gods. Mercifully, those bleak days are now a thing of the past.....recovery was mine at last....but I have never forgotten my uproarious laughter in a small, darkened theatre in St. Louis nearly a decade ago. For the woman I was then, Polanski's genius was a rare jewel to behold.
Rating:
Summary: Wow!!!
Review: A great movie that thrilled me. This is not only an exploration of a darker side of love, but also of a darker side of human beings. This is a story of love and obsession that calls our bluff, discovers who we are. Jerks are made even jerkier, and Mr. and Mrs. Right.... well, this is not Polanski's type of people. One of my best!
Rating:
Summary: Disturbing fun, but fun nevertheless
Review: Although extremely dark the comedy was still there, something which I would imagine is a hard thing to do with a film. All the performances were good, although Hugh Grant was slightly more embarrassed than usual and Emmanuelle Seigner was slighly wooden. The best of the script was left to Peter Coyote, who used it excellently, creating a character who was sickly intriguing. The film kept you watching, out of curiousity if nothing else. A blacker than black comedy.
Rating:
Summary: Beautifully Done: Wonderfully Played:
Review: Bitter moon allows us, the viewer, to look into the love lives of two people. How there lust of life, sex, and relationships takes them on rendezvous a "vis-a'-mort". I loved this movie. I have and will view it many more times.
It shows us how if were not careful, and honest with our emotions, how they can turn into evil and inhumane deeds. The ending like the begining is explosive.
If you enjoy sex, love, and games, buy this movie. You will not be dissapointed.
Ton desir' est mon Plaisir, Christina
Rating:
Summary: One Hell of a Ride
Review: Bitter Moon is one hell of a ride. A sizzling hotpot of[]jealousy, desire, revenge, wanton cruelty and lust. And that's just the opening credits. It's a great story, well told, with the kind of black humour situations where you don't really know whether to laugh or cry. I bitterly regret not having seen it before - as usual the trailer put me off. Bitter moon is a[]film which is great to watch with your partner (well, I thought so anyway). Peter Coyote puts in his best ever performance as a frustrated American writer trying to be Henry Miller in Paris. And failing. Hugh Grant is in it, but don't let that put you off the gorgeous Kristin "English Patient" Scott-Thomas makes up for it. Polanski has a talent for putting the knife in and twists it around some. And we love him for it. Get the disk. Hit play. And hold on.
Rating:
Summary: A FUN ROMP THROUGH FEVERED IMAGINATION
Review: Bitter Moon is surely not for everyone. It's one of Polanski's audacious ones -- he seemed to be far beyond concern over matters of taste. And Emmanuelle Seigner -- easily the pivot of this bizarre tale -- never seemed miscast in a role as a voracious seductress with black widow tendencies, whose amusement is to blind men in the headlights of her sexuality, and step on the gas. The word "promiscuous" was coined to describe films like this. Like all stories dealing with the extremes of sex, it arrives at moments when we can barely prevent ourselves from laughing (e.g., S&M combines humorless scenarios with absurd choreography.) It is the easiest thing in the world to criticize movies like Bitter Moonshaking one's head wearily and complaining about the director's zany imagination. And of course a lot of it is wretched excess. But Polanski directs it without compromise or apology, and it's a funny thing how so many reviewers may condescend to it, but while they're watching it you could hear a pin drop. An enjoyable one, in a whacky could-they-really-do-that sort of a way.
Rating:
Summary: A Brilliant Movie
Review: Bitter moon was quite a different movie. I enjoyed watching it and have in fact watched it many times again, I somehow feel that the story line-up is superb and the director has done justice to the script. The four main cast's have given a great performance and lived up to the expectation. Hugh grant looked great as usual, and Peter Coyote was awesome ... The movie presents the pendulum-like swing of the dynamic between Oscar and Mimi (Emmanuelle Seigner)-- from obsession and love to dependence and hatred -- it is just fascinating. Overall an enjoyable movie ... should suit the people who have the taste for soft movies ( not for the die hard action movie fans ). Happy watching !!
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