FILM SCREENINGS

Besieged

1998. Italy/Great Britain. Directed by Bernardo Bertolucci. With Thandie Newton, David Thewlis, Claudio Santamaria. Excepting a brief prelude in an unidentified African country, the film is set entirely within a large, rambling house, and features a cast of two. Bertolucci’s pet themes of passion and class are stripped to the core as a refugee working her way through medical school and her employer, a reclusive composer, become entangled in a web of attraction and denial. The changing textures of their emotions are reflected in the slow convergence of their musical tastes, and his dedication to her is measured in the gradual removal of the mansion’s furniture. 93 min.