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DramaAdventure

The Sheltering Sky

- A woman's dangerous and erotic journey...

An American couple drift toward emptiness in postwar North Africa.

Release Date : 1990-10-25

Language :ArabicEnglishFrench

Adult : false

Status : Released

Production Company : Recorded Picture CompanyAldrich GroupFilm Trustees Ltd.TAO Film

Production Country : ItalyUnited Kingdom

Alternative Titles :

Cast

Debra Winger

Character Name : Kit

Original Name : Debra Winger

Gender : Female

John Malkovich

Character Name : Port

Original Name : John Malkovich

Gender : Male

Campbell Scott

Character Name : Tunner

Original Name : Campbell Scott

Gender : Male

Jill Bennett

Character Name : Mrs. Lyle

Original Name : Jill Bennett

Gender : Female

Timothy Spall

Character Name : Eric Lyle

Original Name : Timothy Spall

Gender : Male

Eric Vu-An

Character Name : Belqassim

Original Name : Eric Vu-An

Gender : Male

Amina Annabi

Character Name : Mahrnia

Original Name : Amina Annabi

Gender : Female

Philippe Morier-Genoud

Character Name : Captain Broussard

Original Name : Philippe Morier-Genoud

Gender : Male

Sotigui Kouyaté

Character Name : Abdelkader

Original Name : Sotigui Kouyaté

Gender : Male

Tom Novembre

Character Name : French Immigration Officer

Original Name : Tom Novembre

Gender : Male

Mohamed Ben Smail

Character Name : Smail

Original Name : Mohamed Ben Smail

Gender : Male

Kamel Cherif

Character Name : Ticket Seller

Original Name : Kamel Cherif

Gender : Male

Mohammed Afifi

Character Name : Mohammed

Original Name : Mohammed Afifi

Gender : Male

Brahim Oubana

Character Name : Young Arab

Original Name : Brahim Oubana

Gender : Male

Carolyn De Fonseca

Character Name : Miss Ferry

Original Name : Carolyn De Fonseca

Gender : Female

Veronica Lazăr

Character Name : Nun

Original Name : Veronica Lazăr

Gender : Female

Rabea Tami

Character Name : Blind Dancer

Original Name : Rabea Tami

Gender : Male

Nicoletta Braschi

Character Name : French Woman

Original Name : Nicoletta Braschi

Gender : Female

Menouer Samiri

Character Name : Bus Driver

Original Name : Menouer Samiri

Gender : Male

Keltoum Alaoui

Character Name : Woman in Hotel du Ksar

Original Name : Keltoum Alaoui

Gender : Male

Mohamed Ixa

Character Name : Caravan Leader

Original Name : Mohamed Ixa

Gender : Male

Ahmed Azoum

Character Name : Young Tuareg

Original Name : Ahmed Azoum

Gender : Male

Alghabid Kanakan

Character Name : Young Tuareg

Original Name : Alghabid Kanakan

Gender : Male

Gambo Alkabous

Character Name : Young Tuareg

Original Name : Gambo Alkabous

Gender : Male

Sidi Kasko

Character Name : Young Tuareg

Original Name : Sidi Kasko

Gender : Male

Azahra Attayoub

Character Name : Belqassim's Wife

Original Name : Azahra Attayoub

Gender : Male

Maghnia Mohamed

Character Name : Belqassim's Wife

Original Name : Maghnia Mohamed

Gender : Male

Oumou Alghabid

Character Name : Belqassim's Wife

Original Name : Oumou Alghabid

Gender : Male

Sidi Alkhadar

Character Name : Little Sidi

Original Name : Sidi Alkhadar

Gender : Male

Paul Bowles

Character Name : Narrator (voice)

Original Name : Paul Bowles

Gender : Male

Reviews

C

CinemaSerf

@Geronimo1967

2025-02-15

When “Kit” (Debra Winger) and her husband “Port” (John Malkovich) realise that their relationship is running out of steam, they decide to head into the Moroccan desert and rejuvenate their lives. Things don’t quite get off to the start he’d want though as he quickly finds himself in an erotic knocking shop complete with noisy chickens whilst befriended by the rather sexually ambiguous and sweaty “Eric” (Timothy Spall) and his frugal mother (Jill Bennett). They have their uses, though, as his wife and their friend “George” (Campbell Scott) have headed into the interior and he wants to pursue. It’s upon this journey that we realise, through some narration, that nobody here has ever been especially honest with the other and that any solution that may emerge here will be, at best, an hybrid of what they wanted/expected or even dreamt. Though both Winger and Malkovich take the lead here, and deliver competently, I found it was actually the supporting cast that worked better at illustrating the toxicity of this scenario. Spall, especially, but also the native tribespeople who take part and who viscerally illustrate the contrast between our two amidst marital turbulence and societies that subsist amidst the arid, fly-infested yet beautiful villages of the northern Sahara. It’s that photography, reminiscent of the Jack Cardiff, that conveys a marvellous combination of the passive, the manic and the serene as the people gradually diminish into a timeless vista that for me, anyway, symbolised the superfluous nature of mankind and the irrelevance of our, largely self-inflicted, problems. As to the conclusion of the story, well I have to say that I didn’t really care one way or the other about these spoiled and rather selfish characters whose melodrama and peccadilloes didn’t really matter in a grander scheme of things. It’s that uninteresting story that dragged this down for me, that and the fact that Bertolucci seemed intent on peppering the film with sex scenes as if to compensate for a broader lack of something more substantial to demonstration any kind of emotional connection between just about any of these characters. It is a great looking film to watch but as a story I found it a little on the shallow side.