The Sheltering Sky (1990)
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50% of critics liked it
(24 reviews) -
76% of users liked it
(5,290 ratings)
From director Bernardo Bertolucci, The Sheltering Sky is a filmed adaptation of the novel of the same name by Paul Bowles. Debra Winger and John Malkovich star as Kit and Port Moresby, a married American couple who globetrot to North Africa in the late '40s with the hopes of re-sparking their… More From director Bernardo Bertolucci, The Sheltering Sky is a filmed adaptation of the novel of the same name by Paul Bowles. Debra Winger and John Malkovich star as Kit and Port Moresby, a married American couple who globetrot to North Africa in the late '40s with the hopes of re-sparking their love and adding some zest to their lackluster lives. Along for the ride is the pair's friend George Tunner (Campbell Scott), who soon begins having an affair with Kit. As they struggle through the numbing heat of Africa amidst the sudden love triangle, each of the trio sees his and her beliefs and lives challenged. The Sheltering Sky earned a Best Director nomination for Bertolucci at the 1991 Golden Globe Awards. ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi
- Directed By
- Bernardo Bertolucci
- Genres
- Drama, Action & Adventure
R,
- In Theaters
- Jan 1, 1990 Wide
- Studio
- Warner Home Video
Critic Reviews
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Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
A disappointingly reductive adaptation of Paul Bowles's first novel.
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Variety Staff, Variety
Those who haven't read the book will be left bewildered.
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, Time Out
As you'd expect, it's a big, handsome film, rich and strange in psychological depths and eroticism. Malkovich and Winger play woundingly well.
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Vincent Canby, New York Times
A long, beautifully modulated cry of despair.
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Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
The book is so complete, so deep and so self-contained that it shuts the movie out. Bertolucci shows us the outsides and the surfaces, and a person seeing this movie without having read the book might ask what it is about.
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
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Cast
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John Malkovich
as Port Moresby
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Debra Winger
as Kit Morseby
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Campbell Scott
as Tunner
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Jill Bennett II
as Mrs. Lyle
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Timothy Spall
as Eric Lyle
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Eric Vu-An
as Belqassim
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Nicoletta Braschi
as French Woman
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Sotigui Kouyaté
as Abdelkader
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Veronica Lazar
as Nun
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Philippe Morier-Genoud
as Captain Broussard
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Tom Novembre
as French Immigration Officer
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Kamel Cherif
as Ticket Seller
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Amina Annabi
as Mahrnia
- Juliet Taylor
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Paul Bowles
as Narrator
- Jill Bennett I
