The Sheltering Sky

1990
R
2h 18m

IMDb RATING

6.7/10

14K

YOUR RATING

Home Video Trailer from Warner Home Video

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63 Photos

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

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: 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

6/10

Grand meandering story about aimless people

American couple Port (John Malkovich) and Kit Moresby (Debra Winger) see themselves as travelers looking for new experiences. They go to Tangier after the war with their friend George Tunner (Campbell Scott) who they see more as a tourist. Port is introduced to a prostitute and is robbed. Kit and George take a train trip. Port is jealous and follows them catching a ride with the Lyles (Jill Bennett, Timothy Spall).

It's a grand meandering story about being aimless. It's not just about being aimless but there is also a pointlessness about the movie. The location shoots are wonderfully exotic. Malkovich is chewing up the scenes and Spall is being weird. However the movie struggles to find a meaning.