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Besieged by Feelings in the Film "Besieged" (1998)

A film for connoisseurs, in which an extraordinarily successful combination of visual and sonic imagery is revealed. It draws you in not through any particularly gripping plot, but through music, rhythms and the depiction of subtle feelings. The story exists outside of place and outside of time. This house and these people could be anywhere where they were fated to draw closer and sense a kindred spirit.

The film Besieged (1998) is a film for connoisseurs, in which an extraordinarily successful combination of visual and sonic imagery is revealed. It draws you in not through any particularly gripping plot, but through music, rhythms and the depiction of subtle feelings. A house where two initially very different people meet - Shandurai (Thandie Newton), an African woman studying medicine in Italy who rents a room in this house as a lodger and works there as a housekeeper; Mr. Kinsky (David Thewlis) - a solitary English pianist, musician, composer and piano teacher, and owner of the house. The story exists outside of place and outside of time. This house and these people could be anywhere where they were fated to draw closer and sense a kindred spirit.

The film's creators seem to pose a question - how far would you be able to renounce yourself, your current way of life, your possessions, your profession and so on, in order to draw closer to the person you love, in order to express your feelings? Mr. Kinsky sells everything, including his professional Steinway grand piano, to buy Shandurai's husband out of prison - and without setting any conditions, simply hoping that she will respond with reciprocal love. How much are you capable of doing so that the person you love might be happy? Perhaps not even together with you - simply happy...

But setting aside moralising - it is worth seeing for the details: to sense the layer of dust settled on the many statuettes, figurines and plaster heads; the heavy tapestries on the wall and floor; the creaking floorboards beneath your feet; the scorching rays of sun on the terrace and filtering through the cracks of old wooden window shutters; the fragrance of blossoming trees in the courtyard garden; sliced melon on the table; the verdigris-covered copper balustrade; the cold stone staircase; the virtuosic touches of fingers on the piano's ivory-pale keys. The music - sinuous, tender, classical, melancholic, sad and rhythmic, daring, full of joie de vivre...