Besieged

With each trip to the video store, I kept passing by "Besieged." Its cover always appealed to me, but not enough to rent it at the given time. Now, thanks to my newfound appreciation of David Thewlis, I have finally... Full review

Beautiful, for Bertolucci lovers certainly. Music, motion, actors, glowing spaces and colors are all sublime. This is a film about sacrifice, generosity, creativity, passion, and commitment, on the quiet backdrop of a very political story.... Full review

We have a glimpse of Shandurai's environment in a central African nation where the ruthless military politics take over and screw up her life. Welcome to Bertolucci territory you may think? Not so, we keep clear of the politics and... Full review

SLIGHT SPOILERSI can't fairly claim Bernardo Bertolucci as one of my favorite filmmakers, because I've seen relatively few of his films. However, he did make my third favorite film of all time, Last Tango in Paris. Besides Besieged, the only... Full review

Take everything you ever knew about Hollywood and filmdom and flush it. Open you mind and your heart and, if you're lucky, "Besieged" will speak to you of love like no other. Make no mistake, this film is not about... Full review

During the first twenty minutes or so of `Besieged,' directed by Bernardo Bertolucci, there is virtually no dialogue, at least nothing even remotely conversational; and yet the first half hour of the film is almost hypnotically riveting, and by that... Full review

What to say? Besieged is a timeless, unabashedly romantic masterpiece. Poetic and original, this movie studies two people locked in a slow dance of seduction. Based on James Lasdun's short story, "The Siege", the film reveals that love need not... Full review

I thought this was an extraordinarily beautiful film. The care and complexity of the cinematography was truly breathtaking. The acting was superb as well. I couldn't help feeling, though, that the emotion at the core (Kinsky's "love" of Shandurai) was... Full review

It's refreshing to have a film that has no special effects, does not have to deliver every word, tell you every step of the plot -- the plot line is implied. It is by showing what is happening and letting... Full review

Glad I did not listen to Roger Ebert's review.Well he gave two thumb's up for Speed 2(that says a lot in itself).This movie represents true cinema.The camera movements are very hypnotic and the performances are truly truly captivating.The other movie... Full review

Mr. Thewlis invests Kinsky with tragic self-awareness as his hopeless attraction to Shandurai grows.....Its effect, matched with the languorous camera work of cinematographer Fabio Cianchetti, is no less than magnetic..... ... Full Review

Bertolucci's gorgeous letdown "Besieged': Gorgeous letdown Had Bertolucci, who co-adapted James Lasdun's short story with partner Clare Peploe, given psychological gravity to this narrative bouquet instead of fondling its petals, perhaps the fact that Kinsky's drowning in a colonial obsession with his African cleaning lady would exude more heat than consternation. ... Full Review

Besieged'' is completely satisfying -- Bertolucci's best film in years. Life is inescapable, however, and an object of overwhelming desire in the form of Thandie Newton is right under his nose. ... Full Review

His command of cinematic language is incredible in this intimate drama of two outsiders living in a Roman villa overlooking the Spanish Steps.....Because the script written by Bertolucci and his wife, Clare Peploe, has little dialogue, the narrative has an ambiguous quality.....Communicating primarily through sights and sounds, the Italian director has composed an aesthetic treat for art film lovers..... ... Full Review

Appropriately, in order to capture these delicate steps, Bertolucci keeps his camera in tight, stuttering the speed....Extended scenes are virtually wordless but hardly inarticulate.... ... Full Review

In interviews, authors are often asked why the films made from their novels fail or succeed. They shrug. "It's a visual medium," they say. And you want to reply, "Duh." ... Full Article

Italian director Bernardo Bertolucci is a great visualist, a master at forging emotion in torrents of color and light. He sculpted such films as Last Tango in Paris and The Last Emperor in dense, bold tones that pin themselves to... ... Full Article

Do you believe in magic? The reclusive Mr. Kinsky is understandably fascinated by this mysterious willowy creature-timorous yet steely-as she tidies up his objets d'art-crammed palazzo before rushing off to her class in human anatomy. ... Full Article

B ernardo Bertolucci describes "Besieged" as a "piece of chamber music for the cinema," the Italian director's way of acknowledging a sweep less operatic than that of previous works like "The Conformist," "Last Tango in Paris" and "The Last Emperor." ... Full Article

Bernardo Bertoluccis first opus since 1995s Stealing Beauty returns to the same territory as Last Tango In Paris. Like the Brando n butter piece, Besieged focuses almost exclusively on its two central protagonists: Shandurai (Thandie Newton), a beautiful young African... ... Full Article

SYNOPSIS: Shandurai (Thandie Newton) is living in Rome after her teacher husband is taken prisoner in an African state.She works as a live-in housekeeper to reclusive English pianist Kinsky (David Thewlis), who falls madly in love with her. ... Full Article