Besieged

Truly memorable live-action short films are so rare these days that it's painful to see a potentially first-rate one streeeeetched laboriously to feature length. Bernardo Bertolucci's simple, blunt chamber drama, about the unlikely love affair between an English composer (David Thewlis) and his African maid (Thandie Newton), was reportedly expanded for theatrical release from an hour-long television version, but even sixty minutes seems to me like at least thirty too many; the narrative feels inexpertly padded, crammed with extraneous details. A pity, too, because Besieged is absolutely glorious in fits and starts, a heady maelstrom of charged glances and hesitant overtures and dissociated busywork. Even the tired old device of juxtaposing one character's love of classical music with another's inclination to get down/funky almost works; the film's best scene, trite yet undeniably powerful, finds Thewlis' lovestruck, legato-prone pianist wooing his emotionally recessive housekeeper with an unexpected burst of frenzied staccato passion. The conclusion suffers from a glib, O. Henryesque ironic twist, but even that might well have been effective had the anticipation of same not been monotonously building for an hour and a half. Stealing Beauty, too, was a case of dazzling style married to disappointing substance; if Bertolucci ever gets his mitts on a superlative script again, watch out. Optional. (M. D'Angelo)