Besieged (Bernardo Bertolucci: 1998)

[Thorkell A. Ottarsson]

Sometimes I'm totally at odds with most people when it comes to films.
This is one of those examples. It gets 6.7/10 at IMDb. It does get 75%
at Rotten Tomatoes but some of the critics just hate it, like one who
says: "Bertolucci and co-writer Clare Peploe seem intent on
deconstructing the story's interesting elements at every turn,
substituting woolliness for clarity, atmospherics for real emotion and
an often condescending, armchair-liberal naivete for real political".
This is not how I experienced the film. I was so enchanted by it that
I felt like I was watching a thriller. I drank every scene like
someone dying of thirst. This is such a beautiful film! The tension is
so strong that I sometimes almost forgot to breath. It is quite
visually creative. There are two scenes that I was especially found
off.

One was when Shandurai, the main character, was thinking back to
Africa. First we see her sitting at a table. Then the camera moves
closer and tilts to the side and then it goes upside down. Then we cut
to Africa. After that we come back to her at the table, with the
camera upside down but now continuing the rotation while moving away
from her, until it is normal again and at the same distance as it was
the first time. Just beautiful!

The other scene is when Jason Kinsky is composing music. He asks
Shandurai to clean the room and then he lets her movements write the
music. It is beyond beautiful!

The film is also very nicely edited, very much in a Godard style.

The story is also good but this is first and foremost a film for
people who appreciate visual art. My favorite Bertolucci til now!
10/10.