Bitter Moon (1992)

British couple Fiona and Nigel Dobson are sailing to Istanbul en route to India. They encounter a beautiful French woman, and that night Nigel meets her while dancing alone in the ship's ... See full summary »

Director:

Roman Polanski

Writers:

Gérard Brach (screenplay), John Brownjohn (screenplay),

Stars:

Peter Coyote, Emmanuelle Seigner, Hugh Grant

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Peter Coyote	...	Oscar
Emmanuelle Seigner	...	Mimi
Hugh Grant	...	Nigel
Kristin Scott Thomas	...	Fiona
Victor Banerjee	...	Mr. Singh
Sophie Patel	...	Amrita Singh
Patrick Albenque	...	Steward
Smilja Mihailovitch	...	Bridge Player
Leo Eckmann	...	Bridge Player
Luca Vellani	...	Dado
Richard Dieux	...	Partygoer
Danny Wuyts	...	Bandleader (as Danny Garcy)
Daniel Dhubert	...	Bus Inspector
Nathalie Galán	...	Girl in Boutique (as Nathalie Galan)
Eric Gonzales	...	Cook

Storyline

British couple Fiona and Nigel Dobson are sailing to Istanbul en route to India. They encounter a beautiful French woman, and that night Nigel meets her while dancing alone in the ship's bar. Later he meets her crippled American husband Oscar, who tells him their story. While living in Paris for several years trying to be a writer, he becomes obsessed with a woman he met by chance on a bus. He tracks her down and they start a steamy love affair. Soon Oscar finds himself enslaved body and soul by her love, and continues to tell Nigel the details of this relationship in various stages over a number of visits to Oscar's cabin.

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Plot Keywords:

abuse | wheelchair | love | accident | sex | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for the strong depiction of a perverse sexual relationship

Details

Country:

France UK USA

Language:

English French

Release Date:

11 March 1994 (USA)

Also Known As:

Bitter måne

Filming Locations:

Paris Studios Cinéma, Billancourt, Hauts-de-Seine, France

Box Office

Budget:

$5,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$1,862,805 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Canal+, Columbia Pictures Corporation, Les Films Alain Sarde

Technical Specs

Runtime:

139 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Large selections of Peter Coyote's wardrobe were supplied by Parisian luxury clothing company Cerruti 1881.

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Goofs

In the scene when Mimi cuts her hair for the first time and bakes a Turkey for Oscar, he is wearing the same turtle necked blue sweater that was ripped off with a razor blade during a previous sex game.

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Quotes

Oscar: She came to see me when I got out of Intensive Care. She said, there's bad news and there's good news. You're paralyzed from the waist down - permanently. OK, I said, let's have the good news. That was the good news, she said. The bad news is that from now on, I'm taking care of you.

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Connections

Referenced in 100 höjdare: Sveriges skönaste människor: Norrland (2006)

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Soundtracks

"Never Can Say Good Bye"
Written by Clifton Davis
Performed by Danny Wuyts (as Danny Garcy)
Courtesy of EMI Songs France

User Reviews

An Unconventional Story, About Relationship, Moral, Hypocrisy, Behavior, Love and Hate, In Another Masterpiece of Roman Polanski

The British Nigel (Hugh Grant) and his wife Fiona (Kristin Scott Thomas) are celebrating the seventh anniversary of their marriage in a cruise to Istanbul and Bombay. While in the trip, the American cripple and frustrated writer Oscar (Peter Coyote) gets close to Nigel, and invites him to listen to his unconventional love and hate story with his French wife Mimi (Emmanuelle Seigner). Oscar tells how he met Mimi in Paris and all their relationship, including details of their sexual life, along the past years. Meanwhile, Nigel feels a great attraction for the sexy and gorgeous Mimi, in a story with tragic consequences.

'Bitter Moon' has been released in Brazil on DVD this week, and yesterday I watched it for the fifth or sixth time, since it is one of my favorites movies ever. This story, about relationship, moral, hypocrisy, behavior, love and hate, fascinates me and shakes my emotions. I really believe that 'Bitter Moon', Peter Coyote and Emmanuelle Seigner have been not nominated to the Oscar because of the problems of Roman Polanski with the American Justice. Emmanuelle Seigner has her best role and performance in his career playing Mimi, an adorable French woman, very much in love with Oscar, who poisons and destroys her. Their love increases, reaches the top and crosses all the boundaries of a sexual relationship, including those 'accepted by a moralist and hypocrite society' (represented by Nigel), questioning how long a love can last, making Oscar bored of Mimi. The problem is that their relationship was supported by sex only, without friendship and respect, basic parameters for a long-term everyday life of a married couple. Hugh Grant is perfect in the role of a typical British man and symbol of a hypocrite society. And Kristin Scott Thomas has a minor, but very important part in the plot, playing a sexually repressed woman due to the behavior of her husband, who released the chains of her repression. The wonderful music of Vangelis and a soundtrack of nice songs, which includes a Brazilian pop song, conclude this masterpiece. My vote is ten.

Title (Brazil): 'Lua de Fel' ('Bitter Moon')