Besieged

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Besieged ★★½ 1998 (R)

Fans of Bertolucci will enjoy this airy quasilove story, but the slow pace and meandering plot will frustrate other viewers. Shandurai (Newton) moves to Rome after her husband becomes a political prisoner in Kenya. In order to put herself through medical school, she takes a job as a maid for an eccentric British musician (Thewlis). He begins to fall for his beautiful housekeeper, but she ignores his advances. To prove his love, he begins selling off his personal belongings so he can bribe officials to release her husband. 94m/C VHS, DVD . IT David Thewlis, Thandie Newton, Claudio Santamaria; D: Bernardo Bertolucci; W: Bernardo Bertolucci, Clare Peploe; C: Fabio Cianchetti; M: Alessio Vlad.