The Sheltering Sky

1990
18
2h 18m

IMDb RATING

6.7/10

14K

YOUR RATING

Home Video Trailer from Warner Home Video

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Desert Adventure Adventure Drama

An American couple travel abroad to revitalize their relationship. But as the trip drags on, their attempt at recovering what they once had seems futile.An American couple travel abroad to revitalize their relationship. But as the trip drags on, their attempt at recovering what they once had seems futile.An American couple travel abroad to revitalize their relationship. But as the trip drags on, their attempt at recovering what they once had seems futile.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.7/10

14K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Won 1 BAFTA Award
- 9 wins & 8 nominations total

Abdelkader
(as Sotigui Kouyate)

Tom Novembre

French Immigration Officer

Mohamed Ben Smaïl

Smail
(as Ben Smail)

Kamel Cherif

Ticket Seller

Mohammed Afifi

Mohamed
(as Afifi Mohamed)

Brahim Oubana

Young Arab

Carolyn De Fonseca

Miss Ferry
(as Carolyn de Fonseca)

Veronica Lazar

Rabea Tami

Blind Dancer

Nicoletta Braschi

French Woman

Director
- Bernardo Bertolucci
Writers
All cast & crew
Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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Partner.

Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
Paul Bowles, author - and thinly disguised subject - of the autobiographical novel on which the film is based, said, "It should never have been filmed. The ending is idiotic and the rest is pretty bad." This quote comes from a rare interview that was part of the film Let It Come Down: The Life of Paul Bowles (1998).

Goofs
The crew is reflected in the mirror when Kit gets out of bed alone.

Quotes
[last lines]
Narrator: Because we don't know when we will die, we get to think of life as an inexhaustible well, yet everything happens only a certain number of times, and a very small number, really. How many more times will you remember a certain afternoon of your childhood, some afternoon that's so deeply a part of your being that you can't even conceive of your life without it? Perhaps four or five times more, perhaps not even that. How many more times will you watch the full moon rise? Perhaps twenty. And yet it all seems limitless.

Connections
Featured in Siskel & Ebert & the Movies: Havana/Mermaids/The Sheltering Sky/Awakenings/The Long Walk Home (1990)

Soundtracks
Goulov Limma
Performed by Chaba Zahouania
Courtesy of Mango/Island/PolyGram Records
by arrangement with PolyGram Special Markets
© 1990 Island Records Ltd.

User reviews77

Review

Featured review

A feast for the senses

It's hard to understand why this film doesn't get better reviews. Yes of course it's a reflective arty film where evoking feelings is more important than narrative drive. The amount of nudity, though in keeping with the story, does perhaps hinder its being taken seriously by some.

Surely though it succeeds as well as any film has in painting a cinematic picture of the experience of being a stranger in a strange land? The cultural barriers, dissonances, language, the maze of similar streets - everything comes together to create the feeling of utter helplessness Kit experiences when she tries to get help for the ill Port. The confusing weird relationships, often only partially depicted in the film heighten the sense of being adrift in life.

Together with some of the best ever desert cinematography rivaling even Lawrence of Arabia, North African music, noises, characters and colors this film is a rich feast for the senses indeed. And what a wonderful final voice-over, one of the most deep and thought-provoking lines in all the movies.