Monday, December 15, 2014

Just Night

Reading Dunia's lines, a Romanian writer friend, my thought began their way, at a slower pace at first, then at a higher rate, towards The Sheltering Sky. There is a certain sequence in this movie which I consider like some sort of an inflection point of its action. It is not a peak of its action, and rather a scene that seeds the grain for further thoughts, for future reflections. The sequence itself is not an exceptional one regarding the technique, yet the simple fact that keeps on rising from the depths of the memory after so many years, contradicts somehow the appearances. What truly strikes is the dialogue between Kit and Port (Debra Winger and John Malkovich):

PortYou know, I miss times like this, places like this, more than anything in the world.
KitI know you do. 
PortThis is what I wanted to show you: this place.
KitYes.
PortCome on!

PortHere... the sky is so strange. It's almost solid. As if it were protecting us from what's behind. Look!
KitWhat's behind?
PortNothing! Just night.

KitI wish I could be like you, but I can't.
PortMaybe we're afraid of the same thing.
KitNo. We're not! You're not afraid to be alone. And you don't need anything. You don't need anyone. You could live without me.
PortYou know that, for me, loving means loving you. No matter what's wrong between us, there can never be anyone else. Maybe we're both afraid of loving too much!

KitLet's leave here!
PortOkay!
KitOkay
The breaks in the dialogue between the two travelers were left on purpose. Actually Port is a traveler, and Kit is a combination between a traveler and a tourist. The difference between the two is essential, being explained right at the beginning of the movie:
A tourist is someone who thinks about going home the moment that arrived, whereas a traveler might not coming back at all. 
Bernardo Bertolucci is the director, and the script belongs to the writer of the the book on which the movie is based, Paul Bowles, along with Mark Peoploe.

And because we can not skip the music, I will use it as an ending, but I will not end until I will make you aware of watching the clip (some sort of a trailer) right to its end, in order to discover something to make you reflect even more!