I'm not a fan of Bernado Bertolucci. I loved the novel, however as I knew this was in Bertolucci's hands - It was a risky one. First of all this is Bertolucci's take on the novel, its certainly not mine. It does not capture the spirituality of the novel, nor the sense of life, death and everything in between. it tends to focus on what a lot of his work tends to focus on and show lots of bush and sex. That said Debra Winger is a very attractive lady - but it is off putting when you're getting half a clown on while trying to come to terms with a sad and tragic love story. The trailer describes The Sheltering Sky as a womans 'dangerous and erotic journey' - sadly this is what the director opted for- stripping away the character of Kit down to someone who simply needs a screw. Debra Winger and John Malcovich are great in their parts and with a little more care and attention from a director trying to make the story tragic and beautiful instead of trying to show Debra Wingers body as much as possible, it could have been GREAT. I enjoyed it however, as I love the characters from the novel, so deep and rich and real and along with the setting and superior acting it did stir something in me apart from the obvious. I give it 7 out of 10 read the book instead.

Have you ever had one of those nights where you couldn't sleep? You wake up tired, but you know you have to go to work the next day. Everything you do makes you tired, but you must press on. That's the feeling I got from this film. Fatigue. As Winger and Malkovich make their respective ways through the Saharan obstacle course, I wonder what horror is around the next corner. Ultimately, we need to ask the question, "Why are they there." The ennui they represent is hard to fathom. They have bought into this mess and have no intention of leaving it. The characters are exhausting in that they are reckless. They put themselves in constant danger. I guess it's to experience something that will bring them out of their self imposed comas. The acting is excellent; the scenery phenomenal. I felt like I was riding along with them on those awful buses. At some point, I guess, Debra Winger's character has some sort of epiphany and sexual fulfillment, but what lies ahead. Exhausting!

The Sheltering sky was considered a heavy book, heavy as importance, for the so called beat generation...so in my opinion, taking the story of Paul Bowles and adapting it to a movie was a real challenge...despite the simple storyline that everyone notices, the book/movie has deeper meanings...i watched the movie a lot of times and having read the book made me see better the B.Bertolucci hand...trying to create the place for actually an internal bleeding, a deep hurtful feeling, both Bowles and Bertolucci have to use the symbolism of the desert's vanity...and the inner searches go very well with the message of the traveler who refuses to be just a tourist, setting a line to separate the meaningful from the meaningless...READ the book and then be impressed by the adds that Bertolucci makes, just to give you a very personal approach... "You are so alone..."- a beautiful way to end the journey of Port, Kit and Tunner...

One of my all time favorite films, partially because I lived the North African experience for a time in my twenties and it reminds me of that primal chaos hidden under a veneer of post-colonial pretentiousness.For those of you who love this film and those who don't get it, let me propose a way of looking at it. (Metaphorical) Shrooms may be necessary for this journey depending upon how attached you are to coloring within the lines and living a Stepford life.Three characters, representations of how many of us approach life. A traveler, a tourist and a half tourist /half traveler. (the quote is at the opening of the film and at the top of the page for this movie).In this film, North Africa represents primal life. It is messy, death is it's companion. Nothing is sanitized or controlled into the domestic animal that represents what we may be used to. The illusion of order.Court, the traveler, has no buffer, no expectations. He enmeshes himself in the moment to the depth of the moment. Ultimately, life eats him up for he has no boundaries with which to protect himself.Kit, his wife, is half traveler/ half tourist. Her tourist half is represented by her fears. She is held back by her reading of events as an omens of things to come. It is her way of making sense of the nonsensical.Tunner, a tourist to life, enters the journey, but never lets go of his way of seeing the world. Each moment is held up to be compared to and seen through the world he knows. He refuses to let go of an artificial order of things. He plays it safe.Kit is caught between these two men. Court wants to pull Kit deeper into life, while Tunner wants to rescue her from the chaos, bring her back to safety, be the one she can count on.In a way, Court wins by pulling her deep into the Sahara and dying, leaving her to fend for herself, in her grief, Kit spirals down the drain into the depths of abandon until she loses herself literally and figuratively. Her identity no longer has a hard edge, it has become one with her surroundings.Someone asked in the chat area, why did Kit walk away from Tunner at the end. I believe it was because she is not the same person that he once knew and he cannot see that and Kit's reality has not shifted back enough for her to see him, yet.I tip my hat to that great mother and son combo that flit across the surface of the film, untouched by the experience and thus not really living. Critics. You know them. They make a great contrast to those who live life.The moral of the film; there is a richness to embracing and fully living that journey called life but it just might kill you, in fact, in the long, this is just about a certainty.I'm not proposing one way over any other, nor the absolute adoption of any viewpoint. Each has its beauty but never forget that each carries a price.This movie made me uncomfortable, flinch, want to turn away. Not necessarily a great recommendation. Stick with it and it'll resonate within your psyche for weeks and perhaps add to who you are in the world. Maybe it'll even make you aware of choices that you've made and the to come.Just my opinion. Thank you for a moment's indulgence. If you'd like correspond - look for Jaemick at writing dot com