Lua de Fel (BITTER MOON) - A 1992 film by Roman Polanski - A Review and more

 

                            

                                            

 

 

Lua de Fel (BITTER MOON)  - A 1992 film by Roman Polanski - A Review and more

 

"Bitter Moon" is a 1992 drama and romance film directed by Roman Polanski. The movie delves into the complex and often tumultuous relationship between a paraplegic American Novelist and his seductive, unpredictable wife, as they share their life stories with another couple they meet on a cruise.

 

 

Straight-laced couple Nigel and Fiona are on a cruise to India via Istanbul hoping to revitalize their fading marriage.  On route, they encounter wheel chair bound Oscar (An American writer) and his beautiful, elusive French wife Mimi.  One evening Oscar corners Nigel and begins to recount the disturbing tale of passion that left him a cripple.  Initially innocent and romantic, the unfolding story scales the heights of sexual gratification and plummets the depths of complete perversion.  Repelled yet intrigued by Oscar's story, Nigel allows himself and his wife to become irreversibly entwined in a bizarre, frenzied, and tragic game.

 

                                

When priggish British couple Nigel (Hugh Grant) and Fiona (Kristin Scott-Thomas) take a cruise to the Orient, the idea is to breathe magic back into the seven-year-old marriage. Not so fast, English People: This is a Polanski movie. Nigel is immediately badgered by fellow passenger Oscar (Peter Coyote), a wheelchair-using American Novelist, who insists on regaling the uptight Englishman with passionate stories about his vamp wife, Mimi (Emmanuelle Seigner).

 

                              

 

As Nigel hears about games with pig masks and leather G-strings, he becomes predictably charged. It's just a matter of time before he's taking every opportunity to slip away from Fiona to hear the whole thing. Oscar's descriptions (which the audience sees in extended, graphic flashbacks) also cause Nigel to feel passionately drawn to Mimi, a woman who seems tragic, seductive, and in need of tenderness.

                              

 

Bitter Moon is a story of lust, revenge, betrayal, dependency, and most of all; love, wrapped tightly around a coil of taboos and sexual perversions. While not as good as some of Polanski's other works, Bitter Moon still stands out as a highlight of his filmography and is certainly a lot better than many people have reputed it to be.                              

 

Erotic, daring, and unashamedly explicit, BITTER MOON is Roman Polanski at his best.   An extreme love thriller, this is the story of passion so uncontrollable, that it degenerates into sexual obsession of the most dangerous kind.

Running time 139 minutes.

 

Raymond Roman Thierry Polański is a French and Polish film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. He is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, two British Academy Film Awards, ten César Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, as well as the Golden Bear and a Palme d'Or.

 

 

                             

  

"Bitter Moon" is based on a novel by Pascal Bruckner, but with its musty scenario of a dissolute middle-aged man and a clingy, devouring child-woman, 60-year-old co-writer/director/producer Polanski's film smacks of wish-fulfillment and self-justification.

By turns funny, brilliant, shocking, and downright terrible, this choppy, two-hour-plus voyage is for Polanski aficionados who don't mind watching their favorite, aging infant terrible going gleefully under.

 

In the climax, Oscar shoots Mimi multiple times and then shoots himself.  The couple seeking to revive their "Honeymoon" after marriage turns bitter and meets a gory and tragic end.

 

A terribly shaken British couple, Nigel and Fiona were inconsolable.

The acting in the movie really is first rate and there isn't a weak link there, especially not within the four leads. Hugh Grant is exactly the right casting choice for this movie. The two women, played by Kristin Scott Thomas and Emmanuelle Seigner are well done in terms of the characters and the acting, but it is Peter Coyote who steals the show as the abominable Oscar. His character in this film is the sort that actors can really get their teeth into, and Coyote bites down hard in this movie. Polanski's direction is excellent as usual and the gritty style mixed with the great director's edgy camera work helps to create a claustrophobic environment that allows Polanski to perfectly portray his characters' mindset. The themes on display are impressive, and in spite of the fact that it oversteps the mark on several occasions, Polanski's film always feels real and the lesson in the love that the film teaches is duly noted. Bitter Moon is a film that will get under your skin and stay there and not only that but there's enough happening to ensure that this is always a fun watch.

 

"Bitter Moon" is not for the faint of heart, as it contains explicit and often uncomfortable scenes. It's a film that pushes the boundaries of traditional romantic storytelling.

The film explores themes of desire, obsession, and the dark, psychological aspects of relationships. It's known for its intense and sometimes disturbing content, as well as the strong performances by the cast.

 

Emmanuelle Seigner is as close to a goddess that you can think of on this Earth, Emmanuelle has charisma, charm, and intelligence and is so incredibly beautiful and sexy that her presence alone can melt steel.

 

The cinematography was quite good especially the scenes from the ship to show the sea and the moon at night.

 

The film also stars Victor Banerjee an Indian (Isaiah Singh - a Sikh co-passenger with his little daughter Amrita on the cruise). 

 

 

TRIVIA :

 

This movie was based upon Pascal Bruckner's 1981 novel "Lunes de fiel" - a pun on "Lune de miel", the French word for "honeymoon". "Lunes de fiel" literally means "bile moons".

Emmanuelle Seigner is film Director Roman Polanski's real-life wife. 

Emmanuelle Seigner told an interviewer later on that doing this film was a mistake. 

 

Based on 35 reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes, 63% of critics gave the film a positive review.

"Bitter Moon" is a powerful film about love, and to view it as a sort of soft-core titillation exercise by Polanski is to miss the point.