985

first the movie, then the book. after the book and a few articles, the movie seems more 'orientalist' to me. but still remains a powerful cinematic experience for me.

Bleah. Not much here but suffering and weirdness

At first I didn't care at all about these smug, upper-class twats bumming around North Africa, but eventually the story worked its way under my skin a little bit. Storaro's photography is beautiful, but that's kind of a given by now. The casting may have been an issue here; I don't find Debra Winger very compelling, but then again maybe that suits the character. I dunno, it's a thoughtful movie but it just didn't have that magic spark to it.

A difficult film to absorb as a whole. I much prefer the first half, but there's also a sensitive awareness to the last bits that almost wins me back - if it didn't seem just a shade incomplete. A better actress in place of Winger would have definitely been a help.

Fantastic images of the desert. Some of the extreme long shots I hope to have with me all the way to the grave. But fact is, that even though there are good intentions all the way around, it fails because the story is build around the most nauseating couple in the world. It also feels like Bertolucci tries to hard to impose his own style of loose narratives on a otherwise canonic story, but he knows it can't bear it, so it ends up being compromise between the two conflicting styles. Oscar bait.

Starts out intriguing, carried by interesting performances from Malkovich & Spall, but when Wingers charachter gets lost & confused in the desert, so does the movie.

This movie is fascinating both in scope and structure, spilling out onto its barren metaphorical landscape, and leaving the viewer with much to think about after.

This movie made me want to be an expatriot.

The last 1/3 of this film includes some of the most nauseating depictions of the 'Other' I have ever witnessed. Completely ridiculous and cringe-inducing. +30 for John Malkovich doing the best he can, +5 for some breathtaking shots.