SITE TOOLS
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Besieged, 1999, 92 minutes, Rated R
By Patricia Flowers
If you’re tired of the Star Wars hype, rest assured there are good
films currently showing with fewer marketing dollars behind them. One such movie is Besieged,
an astounding film directed by Bernardo Bertolucci. However irksome some might find the
film's controversial plot, Mr. Bertolucci’s direction is undeniably beautiful. |
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A. Bulgari/Fine Line
Thandie
Newton
in Besieged |
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Besieged opens in a breathless
moody blur with Shandurai (Thandie Newton) restlessly fighting nightmares of her past.
After her husband’s violent abduction by an oppressive military regime, Shandurai
flees her African homeland and settles in Rome. A silent charming young medical student,
Shandurai cleans the villa of Jason Kinsky (David Thewlis) in exchange for shelter. Kinsky
is a white eccentric hermitlike musician with a cartoonish smile, whose piano playing
sounds more menacing than mellifluous to Shandurai. As she mops, dusts and sweeps, he
watches her and plays without breaking speed or rhythm. It’s unclear how long
Shandurai has boarded with Kinsky, but it’s long enough for him to fall hopelessly in
love with her. Shandurai, however, firmly and defiantly rebuffs his lustful glances and
overbearing presence.
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Besieged tells a story of the thin line between
wanting and having: Kinsky wants Shandurai's love and Shandurai wants her husband freed
from prison. Their wants become reality at the cost of unbearable pain. Besieged
tells its story with minimal dialogue and without the usual Hollywood boy-meets-girl
tension. Shandurai's mythical affect on Kinsky provides the necessary sparks to awaken
this musical sleepwalker. For the first time, Kinsky moves about and converses because the
task of freeing Shandurai's husband has preoccupied a once lonely soul. Her presence has
undoubtedly invigorated him. When she dances to Papa Wemba while preparing dinner, he
stares as if reborn. He’s so moved that he gallops behind her and audaciously
confesses his love and begs for her hand in marriage. As she resists, he frantically tries
to hold on and tells her that there’s nothing he won’t do for her love.
“You get my husband out of jail!” the once reticent Shandurai yells and sends a
strident shockwave down Kinsky's spine.
Kinsky's subsequent actions reveal one
either extremely shortsighted or so privileged that nothing and no one is out of reach.
Who is Mr. Kinsky? He has no friends, no casual visitors, no past. Shandurai has shunned
and rejected him, yet he persists. Is pawning his valuables to free Shandurai’s
husband a labor of love or an act of appreciation for awakening his sleeping senses? Wooed
by his selfless deeds and music, Shandurai warms to Kinsky who has done perhaps what no
fighting activist could do - get her husband out of jail. But does she mistake her deep
sense of gratitude for love? Has Kinsky selfishly sentenced Shandurai to love him? And,
are they precariously venturing into the future? These questions still linger. As Besieged
ends, it truly begins. M
July 1999
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