Sheltering Sky, The (Bertolucci)

Bernardo Bertolucci’s sumptuous adaptation of the best-selling Paul Bowles novel is a faithful re-telling of the classic story of three New Yorkers whose shallow lives are exposed on an arduous tour through North Africa.

Port and Kit Moresby (John Malkovich and Debra Winger) are American artists and self-styled ‘travellers’ (not ‘tourists’) exploring Saharan Africa, but their 10-year marriage is threatened by the presence of boorish companion, George Tunner (Campbell Scott), who has designs on Kit. Soon the brooding, self-assured Port grows ill, and Kit finds herself alone in a strange, hostile land.

Bertolucci and director of photography, Vittorio Storaro, fabulously capture the forbidding beauty of the Saharan locations, while the haunting score by Ryuichi Sakamoto (winner of the Golden Globe for Best Original Score) - underpins the film's powerful emotional force.

PID: DAVID1061