Bitter Moon

Roman Polanski, UK/France, 1992, 139 minutes

Roman Polanski is one of the most uncompromising, arrogant, erratic and brilliant directors working today. Bitter Moon represents a return to form after the rather formulaic Frantic, and is also the best first date movie since In the Realm or the Senses.

On a cruise ship, a repressed British couple struggle to save their marriage. Nigel falls under the spell of Oscar, Peter Coyote's crippled, chain smoking American writer, who gradually relates the tale of his tempestuous relationship with Mimi (Emmanuel Seigner, the femme fatale from Frantic and Polanski's latest flame). This story of bad sex, obsession and revenge brings Nigel out in a series of progressively colder sweats, but he keeps coming back for more. And so do we. A master story teller, Polanski keeps us on the edge of our seats despite ourselves. The leering, yellow-toothed Oscar is the director himself manipulating us and laughing as we squirm. The fact that Bitter Moon could be a watered down account of much of Polanski's life makes it all the more perversely compelling. Potentially offensive to those with an underdeveloped sense of irony, this is a film that delights in its own depravity. Come along for the ride.

Review by Andrew Abbott
Taken from EUFS Programme 1993-94