''Bitter Moon'' is a 1992 erotic romantic thriller film co-written and directed by

Roman Polanski Raymond Roman Thierry Polański (; born 18 August 1933) is a Polish and French filmmaker and actor. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Roman Polanski, numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, three Britis ...

. It stars Peter Coyote, Emmanuelle Seigner, Hugh Grant and Kristin Scott Thomas. The film's French title, ', is a pun on the French phrase "lune de miel", meaning "

honeymoon A honeymoon is a vacation taken by newlyweds after their wedding to celebrate their marriage. Today, honeymoons are often celebrated in destinations considered exotic or romantic. In a similar context, it may also refer to the phase in a couple ...

". It is based on the novel ''Lunes de fiel'' by French author Pascal Bruckner, published in English as '' Evil Angels''. The score was composed by

Vangelis Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou (, ; 29 March 1943 – 17 May 2022), known professionally as Vangelis ( ; , ), was a Greek musician, composer, and producer of electronic, progressive, ambient, and classical orchestral music. He composed ...

Plot

British couple Nigel and Fiona Dobson are on a Mediterranean cruise ship to

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

en route to India. They encounter a beautiful young French woman, Mimi, and that night, Nigel chats briefly with her in the ship's bar after seeing her dancing alone. Later, Nigel meets her much older and disabled American husband, Oscar Benton, who is a failed writer—acerbic, cynical and jaded. Oscar invites Nigel to his cabin, where he tells Nigel in great detail how he and Mimi first met on a bus in Paris and fell passionately in love. Nigel relates all to Fiona. Both are appalled by Oscar's exhibitionism, but Nigel is also fascinated by Mimi, who provokes him. Oscar later narrates how they explored bondage, sadomasochism and voyeurism. As a contrast to their sexual adventurousness, Nigel and Fiona meet a distinguished Indian gentleman, Mr Singh, who is travelling with his little daughter Amrita. Invited by Mimi, Nigel, escaping from a bridge game, goes to meet her in her cabin, only to find that she and Oscar have played a prank on him. Nigel wants to leave, but another session unfolds, with Oscar describing how their love–hate relationship developed. Bored, he tried to break up, but Mimi begged him to let her live with him under any conditions. He complied, but started to explore sadistic fantasies at her expense, humiliating her in public. When Mimi became pregnant, he made her have an abortion, saying that he would be a terrible father. When he visited her in hospital, he was shocked by her condition and almost relented in his attempts to drive her away. He promised her a holiday in the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

, but he got off the plane just before takeoff. Mimi departed alone, crying. Leaving Oscar's cabin, Nigel meets Mimi and they kiss. Afterwards, he finds Fiona in the bar flirting with a young man. She warns Nigel not to stray too far, and that anything he can do, she can do better. Nigel goes to Oscar, who continues his narration. After two years of parties and one-night stands, he drunkenly stepped in front of a vehicle by accident. To his surprise, Mimi came to visit him in the hospital where he was recovering from minor injuries and a fractured

femur The femur (; : femurs or femora ), or thigh bone is the only long bone, bone in the thigh — the region of the lower limb between the hip and the knee. In many quadrupeds, four-legged animals the femur is the upper bone of the hindleg. The Femo ...

. Mimi shook hands with him, then pulled him out of his bed and left him hanging in his traction device, leaving him paraplegic. Oscar had no choice but to let Mimi move in with him again and take care of him. She revelled in dominating and humiliating him, seducing men in front of him. When Oscar was desperate and wanted to die, she gave him a gun as a birthday present. Having experienced highs and lows together, they realised they needed each other and actually got married. Nigel clumsily tries to woo Mimi, encouraged and coached by Oscar. Things come to a head at the

New Year's Eve In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve refers to the evening, or commonly the entire day, of the last day of the year, 31 December, also known as Old Year's Day. In many countries, New Year's Eve is celebrated with dancing, eating, drinkin ...

party, when Fiona catches them dancing together. Fiona tells him that Oscar had persuaded her to come to the party. She proceeds to dance seductively with Mimi, which culminates in a passionate kiss, cheered on by the other partygoers. A stormy sea interrupts the party and the two women leave together. Nigel goes outside clutching a bottle of liquor and screams his frustration into the wind and waves. Nigel finds Fiona in Oscar's cabin, sleeping naked beside Mimi. Oscar claims the women have had sex together. Nigel grabs his throat, but Oscar points a gun at him and he backs off. Oscar shoots the sleeping Mimi twice, then kills himself. While the bodies of Oscar and Mimi are being stretchered off the ship, Nigel and Fiona, shaken, embrace each other. Mr Singh encourages his little girl to comfort them.

Cast

Score

The film's score by Vangelis was never officially released for sale, although bootlegs of the music taken directly from the film itself have since been produced.

Reception

On its release in Europe (in 1992) and North America (in 1994), ''Bitter Moon'' was a commercial failure and received mixed reviews from critics. Derek Elley of '' Variety'' commented that "Roman Polanski approaches rock bottom" and called the film "a phony slice of ''huis clos'' drama" with "a script that's all over the map and a tone that veers from outre comedy to erotic game-playing." Janet Maslin wrote in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'': "Whatever else Mr. Polanski may be – nasty, mocking, darkly subversive in his view of the world – he definitely isn't dull. ''Bitter Moon'' is the kind of world-class, defiantly bad film that has a life of its own." A positive review came from

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...

, who said "Polanski directs it without compromise or apology, and it's a funny thing how critics may condescend to it, but while they're watching it you could hear a pin drop." '' Time Out'' commented that "Polanski treats this slightly protracted tale of erotic obsession partly as deeply ironic black comedy", "rich and darkly disturbing" and "also wickedly entertaining." Reviewing the film in 2009, Scott Tobias wrote: "''Bitter Moon'' is my favorite of the later-period Polanski films...nasty, potent, and psychologically knotty in a way that recalls the devil-may-care, ''enfant terrible'' Polanski of old." According to journalist Matthew Tempest, he and film director Christopher Nolan shared "a soft spot" for ''Bitter Moon'' as students.

Year-end lists

* 5th –

Jonathan Rosenbaum Jonathan Rosenbaum (born February 27, 1943) is an American film critic and author. Rosenbaum was the head film critic for '' The Chicago Reader'' from 1987 to 2008. He has published and edited numerous books about cinema and has contributed to ...

, ''

Chicago Reader The ''Chicago Reader'', or ''Reader'' (stylized as ЯEADER), is an American alternative newspaper in Chicago, Illinois, noted for its literary style of journalism and coverage of the arts, particularly film and theater. The ''Reader'' has been ...

'' * 7th – David Elliott, '' The San Diego Union-Tribune'' * Top 10 (listed alphabetically, not ranked) – Matt Zoller Seitz, ''

Dallas Observer ''Dallas Observer'' is a free digital and print publication based in Dallas, Texas. The ''Observer'' publishes daily online coverage of local news, restaurants, music, and arts, as well as longform narrative journalism. A weekly print issue circ ...

'' * Honorable mention – Howie Movshovitz, '' The Denver Post''

References

External links

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''Bitter Moon''
movie stills {{DEFAULTSORT:Bitter Moon 1992 films 1992 black comedy films 1992 independent films 1992 thriller films 1990s British films 1990s English-language films 1990s erotic thriller films 1990s French films 1990s French-language films 1990s romantic thriller films BDSM in films British black comedy films British erotic thriller films British independent films British nonlinear narrative films British romantic thriller films Canal+ films Columbia Pictures films English-language black comedy films English-language erotic thriller films English-language French films English-language independent films English-language romantic thriller films Erotic romance films Films about adultery Films about female bisexuality Films about infidelity Films about marriage Films about people with paraplegia or tetraplegia Films about threesomes Films about uxoricide Films about writers Films based on French novels Films directed by Roman Polanski Films produced by Alain Sarde Films produced by Roman Polanski Films scored by Vangelis Films set around New Year Films set in the Mediterranean Sea Films set in Paris Films set on cruise ships Films shot in Hauts-de-Seine Films shot in Paris Films with screenplays by Gérard Brach Films with screenplays by Roman Polanski French black comedy films French erotic thriller films French independent films French nonlinear narrative films French romantic thriller films French-language British films French-language independent films French-language thriller films Murder–suicide in films Dominatrices in films