Reviews of "The Bitter Moon" still attract the attention of critics and viewers, as this is one of the most scandalous and discussed films directed by Roman Polanski. This is a melodrama, which was released in 1992. The main roles in it were played by the spouse of the director Emmanuelle Seigner and Peter Coyote. The name is the antonym of the more common phrase "honeymoon."
What is the movie about?
Reviews about the "Bitter Moon" are still very diverse. In this article, we will describe in detail how critics and viewers relate to the picture.
At the very beginning, a British couple is at the center of the story, who, after seven years of marriage, went on a journey through the Mediterranean Sea. Their names are Nigel and Fiona. They left Venice, expect to sail to India. They have only one goal: to renew their relationship, which during this time has become too chaste.
On the ship on which they travel, they meet a strange married couple. This is an old American writer Oscar with a pretty and young wife Mimi, a Frenchwoman by nationality. Oscar is 50 years old, he is partially paralyzed, as he suffers from transverse myelitis. On the ship he moves in a wheelchair.
Oscar suddenly decides to tell Nigel the story of his romantic relationship with Mimi.
Love story
It turns out that they met one early morning on a bus in Paris. Mimi did not have a ticket, Oscar gave her his. At that time he was about 40 years old, and the girl - a little over 20.
Between them immediately a stormy romance arose, which was accompanied by sex, obliterating all borders, making us forget about the difference in age, life principles and priorities. Flirt very quickly turned into a really sultry passion. It became apparent that these relationships could lead to self-destruction.
Their romantic relationship, which at first was passionate and furious, gradually began to weaken, and the union got bored with both. Oscar was in search of new sensations, so he tried to get rid of bored Mimi. The girl, on the contrary, tried to hold him at all costs, dreaming of turning into his wife, staying with him, transferring even all possible humiliation. And there were a lot of them. Oscar regularly brought home other women who mocked Mimi, organized home parties at which he made her a laughing stock.
Mimi suffered frank contempt on his part, at the insistence of Oscar she was forced to have an abortion, after which she became barren. In the end, Oscar tricked her into leaving for another country.
Two years later, he ended up in the hospital, having had a serious accident. Mimi came to her former lover in the hospital room, where, taking advantage of his helpless condition, she pushed the man out of bed. Oscar then received another injury, which became the cause of paralysis. However, Mimi did not leave the man in this condition, began to take care of him, putting him in an absolutely dependent position on herself. Much more dependent than the one in which she herself was several years ago.
Revenge
In fact, it was revenge on her part. Mimi turned into his nurse, and the relationship between them slipped into sadomasochism. For example, taking advantage of the fact that Oscar is limited in mobility, the girl had sex with her black lover within his ears.
Almost every evening, Mimi went to a nightclub or party, and returned home late at night or in the morning. For her birthday, she gave Oscar a gun, as if hinting that his time had come and he had time to shoot himself. But this did not happen, they still continue to hold on to each other, even officially formalized their relationship, Mimi’s dream of marriage came true. They became husband and wife, although their love had long since turned into a perverse passion, carefully concealed by mutual hatred.
Denouement
The British couple only until a certain point remains in the role of observers. Everything changes when Mimi decides to involve them in his dangerous game.
She comes to Nigel, who offers to become her lover. But when he expresses readiness for treason, she herself begins to delay this moment as much as possible. As a result, she finally refuses Nigel and spends the night with his wife Fiona.
The 1992 film “The Bitter Moon” ends with a scene in which Oscar kills Mimi with a pistol, which she herself gave him for his birthday.
Peter Coyote
The role of an American writer, chained to a wheelchair, was played by actor Peter Coyote.
Fame came to him in the mid-60s, when he became one of the founders of The Diggers Theater in Haight-Ashbury. It was a creative counterculture platform, extremely popular in America at that time.
He moved to the cinema from the theater in the 70s, playing in more than a hundred films. He is now 77 years old. In addition to the film "The Bitter Moon", it is worth noting his work in the comedy Pedro Almodovar "Kika", Stephen Soderbergh's biopic "Erin Brockovich".
Emmanuelle Seigner
The actors on the role in "The Bitter Moon" are selected in an amazing way with maximum accuracy. The wife of Oscar Mimi is played by Frenchwoman Emmanuelle Seigner, who is now 52 years old. This is the third wife of the director Roman Polanski, who also starred in his detective "Frantic", the mystical thriller "Ninth Gate", the comedy drama "Venus in Furs."
Seigner began her modeling career at the age of 14, soon gaining international fame thanks to her bright and memorable appearance.
She made her debut on the big screen in 1984, starring in a cameo role in the film "Year of the Jellyfish." The very next year she was on the set with Natalie Bai and Johnny Holiday in the film "Detective" by Jean-Luc Godard.
Among her best film works, it is also worth noting the crime drama Nicolas Garcia "Place Vendome", for the role in which she was nominated for the Cesar national award.
Hugh grant
In the movie "The Bitter Moon," actor Hugh Grant from the UK played the role of Nigel. This is one of the most famous British artists of our time.
In the movie, he first appeared in 1982 in the invisible film "Privileged." His first success was the James Ivory melodrama "Maurice" about same-sex love at the beginning of the 20th century.
He received fame and recognition from critics after working in Ken Russell's mystical horror film "The White Worm's Lair" and Mike Newell's romantic comedy "Four Weddings and One Funeral."
Hugh Grant became a real star and sex symbol of modern cinema after the comedy melodrama of Roger Michell "Notting Hill", the romantic comedy Sharon Maguire "The Bridget Jones Diary", the drama by Chris and Paul Weitz "My Boy", and the comedy melodrama Mark Lawrence "Love with a notification ", the tragicomedy of Richard Curtis" Real Love. "
Kristin Scott Thomas
Nigel Fiona's wife is played by English actress Christine Scott Thomas.
Her career began in 1986, when she made her debut in the inconspicuous film "Under the Cherry Moon." A great success came to her just after the Polanski film "The Bitter Moon".
In 1996, Scott Thomas was nominated for an Academy Award for his work in Anthony Mingella's melodrama The English Patient. True, the reward she did not get.
Her main achievement is the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role in the romantic comedy Four Weddings and One Funeral.
Roman Polanski
For the director Roman Polanski, The Bitter Moon became a significant work in his career, although not the most famous one. This is a director who grew up in Poland, then lived for a long time in the UK and the USA, and since 1976 he has been in France.
His first work was a real sensation. It was a chamber psychological drama "Knife in the Water", filmed back in 1962. This was the first film in the history of Polish cinema, in which jazz was used as musical accompaniment, a naked woman was shown. He even received an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film.
His second picture not only confirmed his fame as one of the most successful directors of our time, but also brought him the Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival. It was the psychological thriller Disgust, in which Catherine Deneuve played the main role.
Polanski received the Golden Bear of the Berlin Film Festival in 1966 for the crime thriller Dead End, which he himself considered the best work of his career. In 2002, the director won the "Golden Palm Branch" of the Cannes Film Festival for the historical drama "The Pianist" based on real events. It tells the fate of the pianist Vladislav Shpilman, who is hiding in Poland, occupied by the Nazis.
His last work at the moment was the psychological drama "Based on Real Events," which was released in 2017.
The opinion of critics
Criticism about the Bitter Moon was mostly positive. They noted the incredible passions that the director manages to create on the screen, as well as the zeal with which Polanski undertakes to explore the darkest sides of the human soul.
At the same time, we must admit that the film was not immediately considered a masterpiece. Initially, they ganged up on him practically all over the world. In the reviews of critics about the film "The Bitter Moon" (immediately after he left) there were many accusations of the director for all mortal sins, to which he himself gave occasion. It was noted that the director allows himself to comment on vulgarity, at the same time raising it to the norm of style, revealing in it an abyss of sincerity, which makes the film so fascinating.
Viewers reviews
Among the audience there were also fans and opponents of this work Polanski. And the former turned out to be much larger. In the reviews of the film The Bitter Moon, many emphasized that Polanski relied on a literary source in his work on the painting. Therefore, it was of such great importance for him to give this text a different dimension, looking for his path to embodiment.
In reviews of The Bitter Moon, viewers emphasized that the director was able to convey the meaning and essence of this parable of the writer Pascal Bruckner about the relations of two people that more closely resemble a great mystery and incredible work.
In addition, judging by the reviews of The Bitter Moon (1992), the acting was highly rated. Indeed, Polanski managed to bring together first-class actors on the set, each of which deserves rave reviews.
The disappointing conclusion, to which the majority of viewers came in reviews of the film "The Bitter Moon" (1992), is that love is painful, and it is almost impossible to go through the entire stretch without loss.
Among the negative assessments, it was noted that the picture borders in its frankness practically with pornography. These were the main complaints in the reviews of "The Bitter Moon" from those viewers who did not like the film.