Besieged (1999)

I thought Besieged was an above average film (I like The Last Emperor, Last Tango in Paris & The Conformist better). The cinematography was beautiful and the acting was good. It was wonderful to see a African church service, although I wish Bertolucci had actually given her a nationality instead defining her as a generic African. Most comment writers seem to forget that Shandurai's immigration status required her to have a job and a permanent residence, so she was trapped in her position. She is clearly still in love with her husband, (note the scene when she reads the letter about his release) but sacrifices herself to her employer's desire to keep him safe. At the end of the film, she is still calling him Mr. Kinsky and has to get extremely drunk before she goes to his bed! That ain't love, sadly for Shandurai it is survival.

1st watched 9/4/2005, 7 out of 10(Dir-Bernardo Bertolucci): Wonderfully, artistically-told story of an African woman who loses her husband to the authorities for what appears to be political reasons and is thrown in jail. She then moves into a building owned by an eccentric piano player as his maid and begins going thru medical school at the same time. Mr. Kinsky, played by David Thewlis, is infatuated with her very early on and even states that he loves her but her response is basically, show me by getting my husband out of jail. Kinsky then very secretly pursues this. Much of the story is shown to us visually and we kind of have to figure out what's going on which is an extremely fascinating use of visuals rather than dialogue that is so un-American and very European in it's style. The story unfolds not unlike a piano concerto before our eyes as the pieces of the puzzle start fitting together and Bertolucci gets us to watch the characters and be interested in them as they're going thru this. Even after Oscar wins and at an elderly age, Bertolucci is still making extremely character driven artistic movies that are each one of a kind and this one doesn't disappoint either.

BESIEGED (1998)-- Grade: B+WARNING: YOU MAY FIND SOME SPOILERS AHEADWhat a beautiful film! Only a master as Bertolucci could capture the true essence of that story. It's a simple story of two lost souls, whose lives are like an order of facts, any of them very remarkable. A story of love, mystery, music, past memories... OR NOT? A simple story... OR NOT?It's really difficult to define BESIEGED in words, as much as it's difficult to know what is the centerpiece of other peculiar art-house films (LAST YEAR AT MARIENBAD, for example), but this doesn't take its beauty. It's an artistic film, not very recommended if you are looking for pure entertainment, but a must see if you want to think. The story revolves around the strange relationship between Shandurai, an African refugee whose husband is in jail, and Mr. Kinsky, the pianist for whom she works in Rome, in order to have a place to live and money to pay her medicine school. They seem quite distant from each other and talk very little, but he starts to send her flowers, bottles of champagne, while she suffers with constant nightmares involving her past in Africa and one local inhabitant who sings typical songs. One day Mr. Kinsky says what Shandurai already seems to know: he loves her. From then on, it's better to tell nothing more. For our luck, they don't discuss their relationship as in the American cinema, but things happen, that will make them get closer, even if they don't know that.BESIEGED can be interpreted superficially, but of course this is not the right way. Everyone should take his/her own conclusions. The end is the epitome of everything: what if he didn't do what she thought he did, and that was just an excuse for what follows? The last 5 minutes will make you think and will enchant you. The letter, the "abrupt" conclusion (in a good way)... "Mr. Kinsky, I love you"It's delightful to see how Bertolucci can still have ideas. After a failure with STEALING BEAUTY, a film that had no beauty indeed, he redeems himself with BESIEGED, a small, but wonderful artistic picture. It's a silent film, with few dialogues, not many characters, but beautifully filmed, with a well told, magic, bittersweet story that is not only about love. It's about our inside feelings, the things that we don't know how to express. Or not! As I said, the film has a peculiar mystery. Is Mr. Kinsky selling his paintings and even his piano for the reason we think he is? We think we know, Shandurai thinks she knows, but nobody of us knows for sure. What about her nightmares, the African singer, Mr. Kinsky's picture on a wall in one of her dreams (see that he is already on her mind)?With very effective performances by Thandie Newton and David Thewlis, BESIEGED will not be among classics and masterpieces, but it is a small and peculiar surprise came from the mind of a master as Bertolucci. A wonderful film!Note: I can't understand the one star Roger Ebert gave for BESIEGED. I know he may be the best film critic of the US, but I can't totally trust in a person that gives 3 and 1/2 stars for THE PERFECT STORM.

Although I attend the movie theater approximately twice a month and watch at least 1 movie a week, Besieged is by far the best film I've seen in 20 years. Actually, I've watched this movie three times in less than a month, and each time was just as thrilling as the first. The story impressed me deeply, the actors performed exceptionally, each screen appeared to be filmed with the utmost precision and beauty, and the music was absolutely riveting. Besieged is an outstanding demonstration of how the power of love transforms.