In terms of plot, there is nothing special about the film. A couple married for ten years, Potter, Kit, and their friend Rayner came to the desert. Ten years, it's clearly a "dangerous" time for a marriage that's more than seven-year itch. And the couple is already full of problems, they seem to no longer care and care about each other too much, plus a handsome friend who travels with them, it seems that the next story is not difficult to guess. When watching this film, I always think of "The English Patient". The two films took place in a similar era, with the same wavering and lost of love in the desert, and the same tragic ending. In "The English Patient", the man carries the woman's corpse and faces the long yellow sand helplessly. In "The Sheltered Sky", the woman cries and cries helplessly in the face of a man who is getting weaker from a serious illness. In both films, the desert is a place where people get lost. It is vast. Facing the vast world, facing the clear boundary between the yellow sand and the sky, the shock to the newcomers is obvious, especially for the positive For people who are hesitant, confused, and feel that life is boring, such an environment will make people feel refreshed, and at the same time seek changes in the excitement. Both Potter and Kit seem to have been bored with marriage, so Potter will drag his wife to find a woman in the desert to experience "exoticism" to forget the boring reality, and he even threw his wife to Rayner and parted ways with them. Row.
However, changes are also taking place, first as a "derailment", then as a "return". After Potter dumps his friend Reyna, he and Kit seem to be in the desert under the shaded sky. An oasis of love for each other was found, and the tragedy began from there. In the end, Potter died of cholera, and Kit was displaced in the desert. The old man with few voice-overs in the film plays the role of an interpreter, telling about the impermanence of time and life. Potter left his life in the desert, and Kit left his heart in the desert. Like many movies of the same type, the blond and blue-eyed white people in the film always show a contrast to the environment. Coming from a distant place to the vast desert, it is no longer a familiar environment for them, and they seem to be struggling in the predicament. In the film, when Potter was groaning in a serious illness, Kitt desperately asked for help in the crowd, but no one responded, she could only watch her lover die. They are travelers, not tourists, so instead of enjoying the scenery in a safe place, they are looking for a rebirth of life in exotic places with a pilgrimage-like mood, seeking scenery beyond the sheltered sky. The relationship between Potter and Kit has been obscured. Their love is like the desert under the shaded sky. It looks a bit boring and barren, so they look for an oasis, but they mistake the bushes for an oasis, and finally find that the real oasis is each other, but It's too late, as the old narrator said, "Because we don't know when death will come, we see life as a source of inexhaustible profligacy." However, this source cannot make eternal love grow in the desert. Oasis, when the oasis has just appeared, they have to face life and death.
Generally speaking, movies that take place in places such as deserts, jungles, grasslands, etc., inevitably have to show the local customs and customs. At that time, sometimes too much depiction of beautiful scenery would often lead to a situation of overwhelming guests, making a feature film change. It became a documentary on the Discovery Channel, which made the audience remember the beautiful scenery and forget the story. I feel that Bertolucci is still careful at this point. He still depicts the exotic customs of the desert richly, not only the scenery, but also the social ecology at that time, which basically reflects the social style of that era. And such an environment is precisely an important foil for the story in the film, such as the sheltered sky, the music performers during Potter's disease, the noisy market in the settlement, etc., all appear just right. Of course, there is also the music of this film, including the Bunsen music of the local climate, and a piece of music that constantly appears in the background, which renders an atmosphere of sadness.
Overall, the story told in this film is somewhat sad and dull, and it is easy for people to put it in the so-called "artistic films". However, under a story that is not new and not tortuous, Bertolucci still tries to discuss big topics such as life, time, and choices. Has he achieved this goal? I'm afraid it's a matter of benevolence.
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