Three-Cornered Moon (1933)

Disturbing intrigue
The only question left at the end of this effective film's explicit emotional savagery is: who is cruelest?

Every element fits as they should in good art works
A story within a story on a cruise ship - the surface story is of a `seven year itch'. A staid and respectable, childless British couple celebrating that volitile aniversary, are heedlessly advised (in regard to the husband anyway) by an Indian sage that children are better marital therapy than a cruise to India. Lust takes over the seemingly conservative Brit played perfectly by Hugh Grant and makes a fool of him. Yes this happens to men all the time.

On said cruise the British couple run into the sexy French siren and her crippled, older, storytelling husband who latches on to the Brit husband to tell his never-published autobiographical novel slash cautionary tale. And as for the interior story of the writer and his French obsession, it shows how`greediness' for hedonistic fantasy can lead to dark, sadististic or at least regrettable behavior. Suffice to say, everyone learns this lesson in their own way in the end.

A subtle theme here is the portrayal of the failed writer, who buys into fantasy too strongly and tries to make life imitate art until both his life and art fall short of any success, (this, like the lust in the male seven year itch, is another truism - failed artists often go too far into fantasy forgoing realism which ultimately causes frustration and failure) other than telling his story orally to one mere chump on a cruise who completely misses the point and is ready to cash in his perfectly respectable life for a brief scandalous trist in the very manner that made the cripple such an abomiable obnoxious loser. Much like the Siren song from Homer (who was also cruising the Mediteranian, wasn't he?)

Great score by Vangelis too, capturing romance and tragedy in one theme.

One of my all-time favorites/A No Spoiler Review
I happen to be fairly picky, and I don't like a lot of movies. This, however, is definitely jockeying for position as my #1 all time favorite. I first saw it ten years ago, during a library movie night that I'd ran with a friend. We saw a preview for Bitter Moon during another movie and it looked fun so we rented it. When it ended, the whole audience sat in silence for about two minutes. We were frankly shocked by the ending...it was absolutely NOT what we had expected.

Bitter Moon is about a couple who go on a cruise to India to celebrate their seventh wedding anniversary. Almost immediately, they meet Mimi, who almost effortlessly weaves a spell around the husband, Nigel, played by Hugh Grant. He's restless and eager for diversion, a fact that doesn't escape the notice of Oscar, Mimi's wheelchair bound husband. Almost immediately, Oscar begans to play a game with the besotted husband, offering him Mimi if he'll only listen to their tale first. And Nigel is immediately sucked into their wild yet desolate and depraved world, with occasionally darkly hilarious and inevitably devastating consequences.

I thought the cast was incredible for this film. Emanuelle Seigner, playing Mimi, seems to get most of the criticism in the reviews. Admittedly she's no Meryl Streep but she brings a vulnerability to the role of Mimi, even when the vixen's at her worst. Hugh Grant is a bit stiff as Niles, but it suits the part well. Peter Coyote is a sneering fiesta of bitterness and hilarity, and Kristen Scott Thomas steals the show as a wife determined not to be played for a fool.

Make sure the kids aren't around and spare an evening for this one-it's worth it.