Bitter Moon
赤い航路
Storyline
The whole story, ending included.
A paralysed writer on a cruise ship narrates his sadomasochistic marriage to a prudish Englishman.
Nigel and Fiona Dobson, a polite English couple seven years married, are on a Mediterranean cruise to Istanbul, on their way to India. On board Nigel is drawn to Mimi, a young Frenchwoman he sees dancing alone, and then meets her much older American husband, Oscar Benton, a failed writer in a wheelchair. Oscar invites Nigel to his cabin and, session by session, tells him the story of their marriage in far more detail than Nigel wants; still, Nigel keeps coming back for more. Another passenger, a courteous Indian gentleman, Mr Singh, travelling with his little daughter Amrita, tells the Dobsons that children are better marital therapy than any trip to India.
Oscar met Mimi on a bus in Paris, and they fell passionately in love. As passion faded they tried bondage and voyeurism. Bored, Oscar tried to end it; Mimi begged to stay on any terms, and he set about humiliating her, in private and in public. When she became pregnant he made her have an abortion. He promised her a holiday in the Caribbean, then got off the plane just before take-off. Two years of parties later he stepped drunk in front of a car and landed in hospital with a broken leg. Mimi came to visit, pulled him from his bed and left him paralysed from the waist down. Then she moved in to care for him and took her revenge, dominating him and seducing other men in front of him. In the end, needing each other, they married.
Coached by Oscar, Nigel clumsily pursues Mimi, and Fiona warns him that anything he can do, she can do better. At the New Year's Eve party Fiona finds him dancing with Mimi, dances with Mimi herself, and the two women kiss to the cheers of the room and leave together as a storm hits the ship. Nigel finds them asleep side by side in Oscar's cabin; Oscar says they have made love. When Nigel goes for his throat, Oscar forces him back, kills the sleeping Mimi, and takes his own life. As the bodies are carried off the ship, Nigel and Fiona hold each other, and Amrita comes to wish them a happy new year from her father.
Starring
Peter Coyoteas Oscar Benton
A failed American writer in a wheelchair, who makes Nigel the audience for the story of his destructive marriage.
Oscar Benton’s story
In Paris Oscar falls for Mimi, a young dancer he meets on a bus, and for a while they are passionately in love. As the passion fades they try bondage and voyeurism. Bored, he tries to leave; when she begs to stay on any terms, he humiliates her in private and in public, makes her have an abortion, and walks off the plane that was to take them on holiday. Two years later, after a drunken accident, she visits him in hospital and pulls him from his bed, leaving him paralysed. She moves in and dominates him, and in the end they marry. On the cruise he makes Nigel listen and coaches him to pursue Mimi. On New Year's Eve he tells Nigel that Mimi and Fiona have made love, then kills the sleeping Mimi and takes his own life.
Emmanuelle Seigneras Mimi
Oscar's young French wife, once the lover he humiliated and now the one who dominates him.
Mimi’s story
Mimi is a young dancer when Oscar meets her on a Paris bus, and they are passionately in love. When he tires of her, she begs to stay on any terms, and he makes her pay: he humiliates her in private and in public, forces her to have an abortion and leaves her alone on the plane to the Caribbean. Two years later, visiting him in hospital after an accident, she pulls him from his bed and leaves him paralysed. Then she moves in and takes her revenge, dominating him and seducing other men in front of him; in the end they marry. On the cruise she dances alone and provokes Nigel. On New Year's Eve she dances with Fiona, kisses her to the cheers of the room and leaves with her. Oscar kills her as she sleeps.
Hugh Grantas Nigel Dobson
A buttoned-up Englishman on a cruise with his wife, drawn into the couple's games by his desire for Mimi.
Nigel Dobson’s story
Nigel has been married to Fiona for seven years, and they are sailing towards India. He sees Mimi dancing alone and is drawn to her; her husband, Oscar, invites him to his cabin and tells him, in more detail than he wants, the story of their marriage. Appalled, he keeps going back. Mimi makes a fool of him, then kisses him, and Fiona warns him that anything he can do, she can do better. Coached by Oscar, he pursues Mimi, until at the New Year's Eve party Fiona dances with Mimi, kisses her and leaves with her. He screams into the storm, then finds the two women asleep in Oscar's cabin. When he goes for Oscar's throat, Oscar forces him back and kills Mimi and himself. As the bodies are carried off, Nigel and Fiona hold each other.
Kristin Scott Thomasas Fiona Dobson
Nigel's wife, cooler and sharper than he realises, who leaves the New Year's Eve party with Mimi.
Fiona Dobson’s story
Fiona has been married to Nigel for seven years. Both of them are appalled by what he brings back from Oscar's cabin, but she sees him drifting towards Mimi; she flirts with a young man in the bar and warns him that anything he can do, she can do better. It is Oscar who persuades her to come to the New Year's Eve party. There she finds Nigel dancing with Mimi, dances with Mimi herself and kisses her to the cheers of the room, and as a storm hits the ship the two women leave together. Nigel finds them asleep in Oscar's cabin, and Oscar tells him they have made love. After Oscar kills Mimi and himself, Fiona and Nigel hold each other as the bodies are carried off, and Amrita wishes them a happy new year.
Victor Banerjeeas Mr Singh
A courteous Indian traveller with his little daughter, whose view of marriage is gentler than anyone else's on board.
Why it matters
Bitter Moon is about what happens when passion is treated as something that must keep escalating. Oscar and Mimi's love turns into a contest of cruelty, first his and then hers, and their games of domination are not the consensual kind: they are a way of wounding, called love only in Oscar's telling. The film's other subject is the listener. Nigel is appalled and keeps coming back, and his polite marriage is quietly on trial beside theirs. Roman Polanski's film divided critics: Variety wrote that he approached rock bottom, while Janet Maslin of The New York Times called it a defiantly bad film with a life of its own. What it leaves is uncomfortable and real: how close desire can come to contempt, and how eagerly a listener leans in to hear about other people's intimacy.