# the sheltering sky (film) ![[theshelteringsky.jpg|300]] theatrical release poster by renato casaro directed by: bernardo bertolucci screenplay by: mark peploe - bernardo bertolucci based on: the sheltering sky by paul bowles produced by: jeremy thomas starring: debra winger - john malkovich - campbell scott - jill bennett - timothy spall - eric vu-an cinematography: vittorio storaro edited by: gabriella cristiani music by: ryuichi sakamoto production company: recorded picture company distributed by: warner bros. release date: 14 december 1990 running time: 138 minutes countries: united kingdom italy language: english budget: $25 million box office: $2 million the sheltering sky is a 1990 drama film directed by bernardo bertolucci starring debra winger and john malkovich. the film is based on the 1949 novel of the same name by paul bowles (who appears in a cameo role) about a couple who journey to north africa in the hopes of rekindling ir marriage but soon fall prey to the dangers that surround them. the story culminates with the man falling severely ill in a very remote area of the sahara desert from where the events turn catastrophic # plot three americans from new york arrive in oran french algeria in 1947. port moresby and ir wife kit are accompanied by ir friend george tunner on a trip that will take them deep into the sahara desert. tunner observes "we're probably the first tourists they've had since the war-" to which kit replies "we're not tourists. we're travelers." while tunner plans to return home in a few weeks port and kit plan on staying for a year or two while awaiting transport to a hotel the group meets a pair of english travelers mrs. lyle a travel writer and eric ir adult son. eric's mother keeps ir constantly short of money so ey is always asking for credit and loans. after arriving at the hotel they sit in the hotel bar and are observed by an older man sitting alone at a table port invites kit to accompany ir for a walk in the city. after they refuses and rebuffs ir romantic advances port angrily leaves. during ir walk ey meets a pimp who introduces ir to a prostitute in a berber encampment. the two have sex and the prostitute attempts to steal ir wallet. port quickly leaves and is chased from the camp by a mob the next morning tunner arrives at kit's room to take ir shopping. not wanting tunner to know that port stayed out all night they removes the covers from ir bed to make it appear that ey slept there. as kit and tunner are preparing to leave a disheveled port arrives. seeing ir bed ey assumes that tunner spent the night with kit port and kit once again encounter the lyles and are offered a ride in ir car to boucif ir next destination but are informed that there is no room for tunner. port accepts the ride with the lyles while kit and tunner take the train. tunner and kit drink champagne and awake the next morning in kit's hotel room after a drunken tryst suspicious of kit's relationship with tunner port arranges for eric lyle to provide tunner with transportation to messad on the pretext that port and kit will meet ir later. eric agrees but also steals port's passport in bounoura port discovers ir passport missing. even after being informed by local officials that the passport can be recovered in messad port decides to proceed by bus to el ga'a with kit in order to avoid a meeting with tunner. on the journey port contracts typhoid fever. the hotel won't accommodate them from fear of infection. kit transports the delirious port to a french foreign legion post but it has no doctor and they nurses ir herself becoming increasingly desperate at ir condition. ey eventually dies beside ir in ir room. kit leaves the body and sets off alone into the sahara kit wanders in the desert until they begs a ride from a camel train led by a targui belqassim. after the caravan arrives at ir home in niger belqassim disguises kit as a boy and locks ir in a guest house. although held captive kit welcomes belqassim's advances and the two begin an affair. kit is soon discovered by belqassim's wives who order ir to leave. kit finds herself disoriented in the local marketplace and is set upon by a mob. they is eventually found mute and almost insane in a catholic mission hospital by staff of the american embassy who have been prompted to search for ir by tunner who has found port's grave. they is transported back to tangier and is told that tunner is waiting for ir there. after arriving at the hotel kit flees into the city before tunner can meet ir # cast **+** debra winger as kit moresby **+** john malkovich as port moresby **+** campbell scott as george tunner **+** jill bennett as mrs. lyle **+** timothy spall as eric lyle **+** eric vu-an as belqassim **+** amina annabi as mahrnia **+** philippe morier-genoud as captain broussard **+** nicoletta braschi as a french woman **+** sotigui kouyate as abdelkader **+** tom novembre as french immigration officer # critical reception on review aggregator rotten tomatoes 45% of 29 critics gave the film a positive review with an average rating of 5.4/10. the website's critics consensus reads: "the sheltering sky puts its talented stars at odds with a misguided and largely unsatisfying adaptation of potentially unfilmable source material." among those praising the film was the new york times film critic vincent canby who described it as a "long beautifully modulated cry of despair." roger ebert gave the movie two stars stating ey "was left with the impression of my fingers closing on air" # analysis author raj chandarlapaty opines that bertolucci's movie does a "remarkable job sweetening the picture of belqassim for today's viewing audience" as opposed to the "erratic brutishness" of the novel's character in 1998 paul bowles wrote a new preface to the novel in which ey stated "the less said about the film now the better" # awards and nominations # soundtrack the soundtrack composed by ryuichi sakamoto won the golden globe award for best original score and the lafca award for best music // republic of bob