Bitter Moon / Lunes de Fiel (1992)

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Bitter Moon / Lunes de Fiel (1992)

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Bitter Moon is a 1992 film directed by Roman Polanski and starring Hugh Grant, Peter Coyote, Emmanuelle Seigner and Kristin Scott Thomas. The film is known as Lunes de Fiel (a pun on "Lune de Miel", which is 'Honeymoon') in France. The script is inspired by a book with the same name, written by the French author Pascal Bruckner.

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Bitter Moon / Lunes de Fiel (1992)

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Plot: A prim and proper British couple, Fiona (Thomas) and Nigel (Grant), are on a Mediterranean cruise ship to Istanbul, en route to India. They encounter another couple on the ship, the seductive French woman Mimi (Seigner) and her paraplegic American husband Oscar (Coyote), a failed, jaded, cynical, acerbic, self-centered writer. The story unfolds as Oscar invites Nigel to his cabin. Nigel accepts the invitation because he is attracted to Mimi. In his cabin, Oscar recalls, in a series of episodes, how he and the much younger Mimi met on a bus in Paris and fell in love; and then how their relationship went horribly wrong. During a series of flashbacks, Oscar recounts how his and Mimi's love developed and took a darker turn. They explored bondage, sado-masochism and voyeurism. Slowly, their self-absorbed relationship decayed, and the bored Oscar tried to break-up with Mimi. She begged him to let her live with him under any conditions, and he took advantage of the opportunity to explore sadistic fantasies at her expense. Oscar increasingly subjected Mimi to public humiliation, until she became pregnant. Oscar persuaded her that he would be a terrible father and that she should have an abortion. While she was recovering, Oscar visited her and was shocked by her condition. He almost relented in his attempts to drive her away but instead promised her a holiday to the Caribbean. On the plane before departure, Oscar pretended that his luggage wouldn't fit in the overhead bin and went to find help from an attendant. He then abandoned the flight, leaving Mimi on board.

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Bitter Moon / Lunes de Fiel (1992)

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Oscar's tale continues with him immersing himself in a world of parties and one-night stands for the next two years. This hedonistic lifestyle ended when he drunkenly stepped in front of a vehicle. A much more confident Mimi visited him in hospital, where he was recovering from minor injuries and a broken leg. By manipulating Oscar's traction device, the vengeful Mimi crippled Oscar, so that he became a paraplegic. Mimi then informed Oscar that she would look after him and moved back into the apartment to be his full-time carer. She reveled in dominating and humiliating him, to the extent that she seduced friends in front of him. Oscar was filled with self-loathing and, by the time of his meeting with Nigel, seems to believe that he deserves this treatment. Nigel is both shocked and appalled. However, he is intrigued by Mimi and encouraged by Oscar to have an affair with her but lacks the confidence or social skills to approach her directly. Fiona subtly and repeatedly warns him not to stray too far, and that anything he can do, she can do better. Nigel attempts to meet every night with Mimi, and lies to Fiona about his intentions in doing so. Later during a shipboard New Year's Eve party, Nigel attempts to dance seductively, albeit clumsily, with Mimi, but she seems only partially interested. Oscar tells him to try harder or risk losing her to another. As Nigel attempts again to woo Mimi, she informs him that Fiona has arrived and that she is watching them. Nigel hurriedly greets Fiona, and learns that Oscar had reminded her to come to the party.

–from wikipedia

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Bitter Moon / Lunes de Fiel (1992)

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Bitter Moon / Lunes de Fiel (1992)

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Bitter Moon / Lunes de Fiel (1992)

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Bitter Moon / Lunes de Fiel (1992)

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Bitter Moon / Lunes de Fiel (1992)

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