USA: PREMIERE OF BERNARDO BERTOLUCCI'S FILM "BESIEGED"

Record ID: 388339

  • Title: USA: PREMIERE OF BERNARDO BERTOLUCCI'S FILM "BESIEGED"
  • Date: 15th May 1999
  • Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (MAY 10) (REUTERS) ( ** BEWARE FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY **) EXTERIOR OF PREMIERE THEATER "BESIEGED" MOVIE POSTER ANJELICA HUSTON ARRIVING (SOUNDBITE) (ENGLISH) ANJELICA HUSTON SAYING Well, I haven't seen this film yet so I'm very excited to see it. I'm a huge admirer of his from way back, "1900," "The Conformist," I mean, I think he's on
  • Embargoed: 30th May 1999 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES AND FILM LOCATIONS
  • Country: USA
  • Reuters ID: LVACKB0EAZ88BN7JT86ABCCETNIP
  • Story Text: Although the master filmmaker himself wasn't able to attend because of treatment for a ruptured spinal disc, a healthy crowd of Hollywood celebrities turned out on Monday, May 10 for the premiere of Bernardo Bertolucci's latest film "Besieged."
    Monday night's guests included recent Oscar winner James Coburn, recent Oscar nominee Lynn Redgrave, Ben Kingsley, Lauren Holly, Kelly Preston, Bertolucci's "Last Emperor" star Joan Chen and Anjelica Huston, whose Artists Rights Foundation was the beneficiary for the charity gala premiere.
    "Besieged" stars Thandie Newton, who recently played opposite Oprah Winfrey in "Beloved," and David Thewlis, whose credits include Brad Pitt's "Seven Years in Tibet" as well as three films from British director Mike Leigh, "Naked," "The Short and Curlies" and "Life is Sweet."
    Newton plays Shandurai, a young African woman who has left her homeland after having witnessed her husband's brutal abduction, the victim of an oppressive government.
    Disenchanted with her country, Shandurai goes to Rome to work as a maid at the home of an eccentric English musician Mr.
    Kinsky, played by Thewlis.
    Although the two have almost nothing in common, she hopelessly enchants him and he finds himself completely falling in love with her, even though she doesn't initially return his affections.He proves the depth of his devotion to her as he risks all his worldly belongings to help free her husband from his imprisonment.
    Besides directing the film, Bertolucci also co-wrote it with his wife Clare Peploe.They adapted it from a short story by James Lasdun.
    "Besieged" marks a new direction for Bertolucci, whose most recent work includes such historically and politically complex epics as "Little Buddha," "The Sheltering Sky" and "The Last Emperor," for which he won nine Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director.Instead, "Besieged" is being described as the filmmaker's most intimate and personal film to date.
    The film was shot in just 28 days in both Rome and Africa.
    Although Shandurai's home country is a fictional one, the crew shot scenes in Kenya, where Bertolucci's wife Clare was born.
    Although this is one of his most small scale films, Bertolucci has explored themes of romantic dalliances before, most notably in his erotic masterpiece "Last Tango in Paris"
    with Marlon Brando.
    Anjelica Huston, a close friend of Bertolucci's, offered to host the American premiere as a benefit for her organization the Artists Rights Foundation.The goal of the group is to protect the work of filmmakers from unauthorized alteration and editing.Some of its leading supporters include Martin Scorsese, Tom Cruise and Milos Foreman.
    "Besieged" opens in select theaters throughout the United States on Friday, May 21.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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