The Sheltering Sky (1990)

The American artist couple Port and Kit Moresby travel aimlessly through Africa, searching for new experiences that could give sense to their relationship. But the flight to distant regions only leads both deeper into despair.

Director:

Bernardo Bertolucci

Writers:

Paul Bowles (book), Mark Peploe (screenplay),

Stars:

Debra Winger, John Malkovich, Campbell Scott

Won 1 Golden Globe. Another 8 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Debra Winger	...	Kit Moresby
John Malkovich	...	Port Moresby
Campbell Scott	...	George Tunner
Jill Bennett	...	Mrs. Lyle
Timothy Spall	...	Eric Lyle
Eric Vu-An	...	Belqassim
Amina Annabi	...	Mahrnia
Philippe Morier-Genoud	...	Captain Broussard
Sotigui Kouyaté	...	Abdelkader (as Sotigui Kouyate)
Tom Novembre	...	French Immigration Officer
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)

Storyline

The American artist couple Port and Kit Moresby travels aimless through Africa, searching for new experiences that could give new sense to their relationship. But the flight to distant regions leads both only deeper into despair.

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Plot Keywords:

travel | playwright | soup | american abroad | marketplace | 

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Taglines:

A woman's dangerous and erotic journey...

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

UK Italy

Language:

English French Arabic

Release Date:

12 December 1990 (USA)

Also Known As:

Den skyddande himlen

Filming Locations:

El Minzah Hotel, Tangier, Morocco

Box Office

Budget:

$25,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$2,075,084 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Recorded Picture Company (RPC), Warner Bros, Aldrich Group

Technical Specs

Runtime:

138 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby (35 mm prints) 70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints)

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

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.

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Goofs

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

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Quotes

[first lines]
Port Moresby: Well, terra firma.
Tunner: We're probably the first tourists they've had since the war.
Kit Moresby: Tunner, we're not tourists. We're travelers.
Tunner: Oh. What's the difference?
Port Moresby: A tourist is someone who thinks about going home the moment they arrive, Tunner.
Kit Moresby: Whereas a traveler might not come back at all.
Tunner: You mean *I'm* a tourist.
Kit Moresby: Yes, Tunner. And I'm half and half.

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Connections

Referenced in The Player (1992)

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Soundtracks

"Dahlili Ehtar"
Written by Ahmed Rami and Riad Al Sunbati (as Riad el Soumbati)
Performed by Om Koultoum as (Om Kalsoum)

User Reviews

the challenge of adapting a movie after a book

The Sheltering sky was considered a heavy book, heavy as importance, for the so called beat generation...so in my opinion, taking the story of Paul Bowles and adapting it to a movie was a real challenge...despite the simple storyline that everyone notices, the book/movie has deeper meanings...i watched the movie a lot of times and having read the book made me see better the B.Bertolucci hand...trying to create the place for actually an internal bleeding, a deep hurtful feeling, both Bowles and Bertolucci have to use the symbolism of the desert's vanity...and the inner searches go very well with the message of the traveler who refuses to be just a tourist, setting a line to separate the meaningful from the meaningless...READ the book and then be impressed by the adds that Bertolucci makes, just to give you a very personal approach... "You are so alone..."- a beautiful way to end the journey of Port, Kit and Tunner...