Based on the novel by Paul Bowles, "The Sheltering Sky" is the story of rekindling one's marriage is one of the greatest pieces of 20th century literature. When I rented the movie, I was even more flabbergasted when I saw the DVD cover sleeve and discovered that well-known Italian director Bernardo Bertolucci was behind the lenses. The desert settings were the perfect locality for a film of this calibre which resembles that of "Lawrence of Arabia" or cinematic classics like "The English Patient". Even though Bertolucci and his cinematographer Vittorio Storaro have physically made this film visual eye-candy, there are other traits that have an equally proportionate share of hits and misses.
As it hurts me to say this, the biggest flaws lie in the balance of the two leads (John Malkovich and Debra Winger) who play the roles of Port and Kit Moresby, a duo of self-absorbed wealthy New Yorkers who travel to Tangiers, Morocco to spruce up some adventure to fix up their progressively crumbling marriage. Port and Kit pompously refer to themselves as "travelers" over tourists towards their somewhat mutual friend George Tunner (Campbell Scott), who has a subtle attraction to Kit. The triad bring an unnecessary amount of luggage and that it becomes clear that style outweighs substance as the trifecta just wander about without any kind of purpose other than the fact that they're just reeking in their wealth.
The Moresby's are caricatures that spell out F. Scott Fitzgerald, they're in their 30's, flamboyant, condescending and have no cares for any kind of moral decency. Poor casting choice for Malkovich as the cultivated intelligent trying to gather his ideas in a setting that doesn't quite comprehend to an atmosphere where every foundation of him is quickly crumbling before his very eyes. Malkovich has none of the physical characteristics described in Bowles' novel let alone the immaculate mannerisms portrayed there either. His light monotone voice and his use of throwaways are opposed to the well polished dialogue from Bowles' novel. Malkovich is great at portraying macabre characters and brings that level with him in a lot of his performances, but Port is not at all like that. Sure he's self-righteous and unsympathetic, but he's not in any way shape or form diabolical.
Debra Winger as Kit is a tad bit better though as her narrative is the focal point of the story. But she also seems physically wrong for the part. Where was Meryl Streep at the time? Bowles' novel called for a fair, vulnerable, fragile woman in the opening scenes of the book. Winger seems too play off Kit as a bold, strong-willed character. Her efforts to play it calculating seems at times quite contrived and very ridiculous complete with her raspy laugh and her ample limbs. She seems too independent-minded that's contrary to the character of Kit from the novel. Her Midwestern ways are opposite and seems out of place to the upper-class traits Kit portrays in the book. Sure at first she looks authentic to the characters in the book, but once she and Port wander aimlessly in the desert, her physical and mental demeanor are more Winger than Kit as opposed to the other way around.
The supporting characters like Campbell Scott, Timothy Spall and Jill Bennett are quite convincing in their respected roles and seems to upstage the leads at times. The score by Ryuichi Sakamoto is quite thrilling, but at the same time very jarring. The dialogue can be very overwhelming and their motives are blank. The author(who plays a blind man at a bar) provides the narration. But the story of his journey feels more inferior than exterior and the translation of what he's talking about is quite complex. To put in a nutshell, it's better to read the novel first before getting into the book so you'll get a better comparison of the differences between the novel and the visually satisfying, but poorly executed adaptation.
As it hurts me to say this, the biggest flaws lie in the balance of the two leads (John Malkovich and Debra Winger) who play the roles of Port and Kit Moresby, a duo of self-absorbed wealthy New Yorkers who travel to Tangiers, Morocco to spruce up some adventure to fix up their progressively crumbling marriage. Port and Kit pompously refer to themselves as "travelers" over tourists towards their somewhat mutual friend George Tunner (Campbell Scott), who has a subtle attraction to Kit. The triad bring an unnecessary amount of luggage and that it becomes clear that style outweighs substance as the trifecta just wander about without any kind of purpose other than the fact that they're just reeking in their wealth.
The Moresby's are caricatures that spell out F. Scott Fitzgerald, they're in their 30's, flamboyant, condescending and have no cares for any kind of moral decency. Poor casting choice for Malkovich as the cultivated intelligent trying to gather his ideas in a setting that doesn't quite comprehend to an atmosphere where every foundation of him is quickly crumbling before his very eyes. Malkovich has none of the physical characteristics described in Bowles' novel let alone the immaculate mannerisms portrayed there either. His light monotone voice and his use of throwaways are opposed to the well polished dialogue from Bowles' novel. Malkovich is great at portraying macabre characters and brings that level with him in a lot of his performances, but Port is not at all like that. Sure he's self-righteous and unsympathetic, but he's not in any way shape or form diabolical.
Debra Winger as Kit is a tad bit better though as her narrative is the focal point of the story. But she also seems physically wrong for the part. Where was Meryl Streep at the time? Bowles' novel called for a fair, vulnerable, fragile woman in the opening scenes of the book. Winger seems too play off Kit as a bold, strong-willed character. Her efforts to play it calculating seems at times quite contrived and very ridiculous complete with her raspy laugh and her ample limbs. She seems too independent-minded that's contrary to the character of Kit from the novel. Her Midwestern ways are opposite and seems out of place to the upper-class traits Kit portrays in the book. Sure at first she looks authentic to the characters in the book, but once she and Port wander aimlessly in the desert, her physical and mental demeanor are more Winger than Kit as opposed to the other way around.
The supporting characters like Campbell Scott, Timothy Spall and Jill Bennett are quite convincing in their respected roles and seems to upstage the leads at times. The score by Ryuichi Sakamoto is quite thrilling, but at the same time very jarring. The dialogue can be very overwhelming and their motives are blank. The author(who plays a blind man at a bar) provides the narration. But the story of his journey feels more inferior than exterior and the translation of what he's talking about is quite complex. To put in a nutshell, it's better to read the novel first before getting into the book so you'll get a better comparison of the differences between the novel and the visually satisfying, but poorly executed adaptation.