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6.4/10
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Four stories about short or long relationships between men and women in Italy and France.Four stories about short or long relationships between men and women in Italy and France.Four stories about short or long relationships between men and women in Italy and France.
- Awards
- 3 wins & 6 nominations
Kim Rossi Stuart
- Silvano
- (as Kim Rossi-Stuart)
Inés Sastre
- Carmen
- (as Ines Sastre)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaIn the original edited footage (which was more than two hours long) the sex scene between Peter Weller and Chiara Caselli was longer and showed the actor performing an explicit cunnilingus to the actress. It was Wim Wenders who asked Michelangelo Antonioni to cut that part. "The scene starts off well, but becomes unbearable when it doesn't end and at the end it heavily touches the limit of pornography," he said. In the Peter Weller's diary of working with Michelangelo Antonioni (included in Projections 12 book), the actor recalls how the director asked him in that scene to kiss Caselli's naked body from her breasts to below her navel, ordering him to continue further down, even when assistant director Beatrice Banfi and Antonioni's wife had intervened to prevent the scene from becoming pornographic. The 'cut' was yelled only after Weller put his mouth on the actress' crotch and kissed it for 15 seconds. At that time Weller was simultaneously filming Woody Allen's Mighty Aphrodite (1995) and thus had the opportunity to tell the New York director about the erotic-sexual performance that Antonioni had asked of him. "Woody looked at me rapt and wouldn't stop asking me for details. I don't know how many times he got the story repeated," Weller said.
- Alternate versionsThere are two slightly different versions of the movie, the difference ocurring at the end. The US version of 'Beyond The Clouds' (Al di là delle nuvole, 1995) lacks the complete voice-over narration by John Malkovich's character at the end of the movie, from the moment he enters the hotel until the last image, before going to credits. The only line heard is: 'The director's profession is very peculiar...'; whereas the European cut of the movie contains a longer narration, also starting with the same line, but expanding until the last image before fading to credits. The voice-over talks about how the director's profession is to find images, only to discover another image beneath the previous one which is more faithful to the truth, and then another, and another, until you reach the one which equals reality, the one no one will ever see. Both versions are equally powerful in their own right, though it's interesting to note such a minor difference was made in the first place. Both versions are available, the US version was released in DVD, and the European version is available in VHS only.
- ConnectionsFeatured in To Make a Film Is to Be Alive (1995)
- SoundtracksUnknown Love
Written by Lucio Dalla and Robert Sidoli
Performed by Giuseppe D'Onghia (as Beppe Donghia) (piano) and Lucio Dalla (clarin)
Featured review
SPOILER: After the ecstatic reviews it received in the press, I found this film
disappointing. I can only imagine that the critics were being kind to an
ill, old man of 82 and overly respectful of the reputation of a once
great film director. Visually it is very attractive with beautiful shots of a lakeside
village and very atmospheric and poetic shots of alleyways and streets
in rain and mist. But when it comes to the actions and motivations of
the people in the film it is a let-down. I like to be able to believe in
and identify with the characters in a film and I couldn't do that here.
There are four stories in the film and I will mention only two - the two
that seem to me the most trite and pointless.
The first story stars two extremely good-looking newcomers to the screen
(Kim Rossi Stuart & Ines Sastre.) He stops his car to ask her the way to the nearest hotel, and because he
is so good-looking she gives him the name of her hotel. They see each
other during the day and when they retire to their rooms at night across
the landing from each other, she lies awake waiting for the knock on the
door that never comes. In the morning she leaves early without seeing
him. It is two years before they see each other again and this time
their relationship progresses a little further - they get to be naked on
the bed together. But he behaves in a very odd way indeed; for some five
minutes he runs his hands over her body within a millimetre of her skin
but without actually touching her. What she thinks is going on as she
lies there passively, feeling nothing, is anybody's guess. Then after
five minutes, still without having touched her, he gets up abruptly and
without speaking a word leaves. Is that the action of a sane man? You
wonder why he bothered to take his clothes off if he intended to do so
little. She, presumably feeling hurt and frustrated, rushes to the
window to see him walking off into the distance. They give each other a
feeble wave. End of story. John Malkovich's deep lugubrious voice-over
tells us that he behaved in this way either because of folly or pride.
Well it was certainly folly - and certainly unbelievable. Or could it
have been impotence? Could this story be saying something about the
impotence of an old man?
In another segment of the film, Malkovich's character is attracted to a
young woman (Sophia Marceau) he sees in a shop window. He can't take his
eyes off her and just stands there entranced. She reacts in the same
way. He goes into the shop and their silent fascination continues. I
felt uncomfortable for both of them. Was something momentous about to
happen? It would seem so and our interest is awakened, our expectations
aroused. But no; we are just being lead up the garden path to nowhere.
He sits outside and eventually she joins him. She tells him only one
thing about herself, that she has murdered her father by stabbing him
twelve times. Malkovich shows no surprise and the fact seems irrelevant.
They then go to her place and they have sex. But this is not the
beginning of some deep, meaningful relationship as the earlier
enchantment would lead us to suppose. Oh no. When he's had his sex he's
had enough and like the previous male protagonist, he just walks away.
Another wretched piece of behaviour and
disappointing. I can only imagine that the critics were being kind to an
ill, old man of 82 and overly respectful of the reputation of a once
great film director. Visually it is very attractive with beautiful shots of a lakeside
village and very atmospheric and poetic shots of alleyways and streets
in rain and mist. But when it comes to the actions and motivations of
the people in the film it is a let-down. I like to be able to believe in
and identify with the characters in a film and I couldn't do that here.
There are four stories in the film and I will mention only two - the two
that seem to me the most trite and pointless.
The first story stars two extremely good-looking newcomers to the screen
(Kim Rossi Stuart & Ines Sastre.) He stops his car to ask her the way to the nearest hotel, and because he
is so good-looking she gives him the name of her hotel. They see each
other during the day and when they retire to their rooms at night across
the landing from each other, she lies awake waiting for the knock on the
door that never comes. In the morning she leaves early without seeing
him. It is two years before they see each other again and this time
their relationship progresses a little further - they get to be naked on
the bed together. But he behaves in a very odd way indeed; for some five
minutes he runs his hands over her body within a millimetre of her skin
but without actually touching her. What she thinks is going on as she
lies there passively, feeling nothing, is anybody's guess. Then after
five minutes, still without having touched her, he gets up abruptly and
without speaking a word leaves. Is that the action of a sane man? You
wonder why he bothered to take his clothes off if he intended to do so
little. She, presumably feeling hurt and frustrated, rushes to the
window to see him walking off into the distance. They give each other a
feeble wave. End of story. John Malkovich's deep lugubrious voice-over
tells us that he behaved in this way either because of folly or pride.
Well it was certainly folly - and certainly unbelievable. Or could it
have been impotence? Could this story be saying something about the
impotence of an old man?
In another segment of the film, Malkovich's character is attracted to a
young woman (Sophia Marceau) he sees in a shop window. He can't take his
eyes off her and just stands there entranced. She reacts in the same
way. He goes into the shop and their silent fascination continues. I
felt uncomfortable for both of them. Was something momentous about to
happen? It would seem so and our interest is awakened, our expectations
aroused. But no; we are just being lead up the garden path to nowhere.
He sits outside and eventually she joins him. She tells him only one
thing about herself, that she has murdered her father by stabbing him
twelve times. Malkovich shows no surprise and the fact seems irrelevant.
They then go to her place and they have sex. But this is not the
beginning of some deep, meaningful relationship as the earlier
enchantment would lead us to suppose. Oh no. When he's had his sex he's
had enough and like the previous male protagonist, he just walks away.
Another wretched piece of behaviour and
- How long is Beyond the Clouds?Powered by Alexa
Details
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $31,738
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $12,596
- Dec 5, 1999
- Gross worldwide
- $31,738
- Runtime1 hour 50 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.66 : 1
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