On B List of Movie Reviews
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Bitter Moon (1992)
Rate:
6
Viewed:
4/15
4/15:
My, my...how far Roman Polanski has fallen.
Bitter Moon is the beginning of his descent, never mind his Oscar win for directing The Pianist which
was undeserving. It tries too hard to be the next 9½ Weeks but fails miserably in all aspects.
Most of the blame lies squarely on Roman's wife, Emmanuelle Seigner, who's unsexy and can pass for a man with a thing
for S&M. Some of her scenes are so farcical that I've been forced to laugh despite her seriousness.
Cast for the role that's meant for James Woods, Peter Coyote tries to give F. Murray Abraham a run for his money as the most
dramatic storyteller with no understanding of how life works. Maybe it explains why his character could never get his book
published. Never a factor, Kristin Scott Thomas has thankfully a small amount of screen time. On the other hand, Hugh
Grant is a delight who has great lines in terms of reaction after listening to Oscar's story.
As for the film, it runs too long, is repetitive and circular, and keeps belaboring the point. After hearing something two or
three times, I was like, "I get it already. Can we just move on?" But no...it must be reiterated to death until everybody,
probably Roman Polanski most of all, is exasperatedly satisfied. At least, the ending is fitting because it's what I had been
expecting.
All in all, Bernardo Bertolucci did it already in Last Tango in Paris by exploring one male's fantasy of degrading the
female sex.