La película de la semana. El cielo protector. Bernardo Bertoluchi. 1989.

First of all say that if Malkovich makes Bowles the result is not Bowles at all but Malkovich instead, Malkovich always represent his own rol so he is who is in the stage. No doubts at respect. The film is based on the novel of Paul Bowles, a kind of road movie across Maroc in the thirties years of the past siecle, delicious representation of Malkovich doing of himself all the film.

This film is my second favourite film of his director, Bertoluchi, the first one is Il conformista based on Moravia’s novel of the same title, both films are about a love triangle, and both films, like both novels, tell a story about homosexuality, in Il conformista Bertoluchi gets a better result that Moravia in the novel, is one of the rare cases in which the movie is higher than the roman, in The sheltering sky the result is diferent, no better, no worse, but different, not like in Il conformista where the result is the same but in a higher lever like I try to say before.

The universe of Bowles is more strange for Bertoluchi than the universe of Moravia, and the estetic backround of the films are absolutely differents, colored in yelow The sheltering sky and in red Il Conformista, like a sucesion of pictures where the director make us take a moment of poetic meeting with the destiny of the main roles of this two stories.

Malkovich and Bowles, who is who? I think It would be better if Bowles were represented for another actor, not an actor of such strong personality, because you are all the time watching the film and telling to you: what a marvellous representation is doing Malkovich all the time, like an exercise of talent during all the movie, instead a representation of Bowles personality that desapears in the great temperament of the divo Malkovich.

But despite this I recomend the film, not with the purpose to get a certainly knowledge about Bowles, but yes with the purpose to get a certainly knowledge of the atmosphere plain of magic moments that contents the film in which art, both, Bertoluchi and John Malkovich, are experts.

The paseant