Absolutely brilliant

It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

Bitter Moon... What a fitting name for this film. It contains a gritty reality some people live in every day, usually to a lesser extent. Coyote as the detestable Oscar gives the film's best performance. Seigner is good as codependent Mimi and Grant is put in a strange position as nervous Nigel manipulated into listening Oscar's crazed story. It's a story of an abuser turning into victim and victim turning into abuser. Both loving and hating each other equally as much. Love-hate at its most extreme. This rollercoaster tale of a passionate relationship gone sour or beyond is hard to stomach. It can be relatable for those who are or have been toxic relationships. There's S&M, sometimes just plain sadism, loss of self-worth and esteem, change in human nature, destructive relationship between different personality types, codependency. It's all here.

Many have thought this to be a low point for Polanski. Many critics blamed it on the strange sexual fetishism that the film celebrated. I guess its just creepy, coming from Polanski. Perhaps it was to much to watch coming from a man with such a disgraceful past. But Bitter Moon is so good, at being so risqué. This is some pretty heavy erotica. The performance by Peter Coyote and Emmanuelle Seigner as the on-and-off, shagging couple is damn delicious. They just let it all hang out, and I mean that in the most literal sense. I loved seeing those two lusting over each other, then completely tearing each other apart in over-sexed rage. It's so over-the-top. A few things bring it down a bit. One, I have a problem with dogs involved in sexual acts.. I think this movie may have violated a code in the AHA. Also, Hugh Grant. Going into this, I had my hand hovering over the stop button, because of.. well, Hugh Grant. He's a terrible actor. It's that same shy but dashing British gentleman over and over. It kind of works here, since his role is so insignificant, but he can still get under your skin. The scenes on the boat also seem unnecessary next to the exquisite tale that Oscar spins. I think the movie would have been perfect, if it was just that sick love story, and nothing more. I really appreciated Polanski's effort. This is a little- known, but satisfying art-house film.

Not as much as underrated as much as forgotten, "Bitter Moon" is a stellar portrayal of a dysfunctional marital relations ans a story of the edge between love and madness which opens the question whether love can make all of us madmen. The movie contains powerhouse performances from all actors involved and the fact that whole plot is happening on a boat leaves a sense of claustrophobia and suffocating. However, the real story and background lie in the flashbacks of a leading actor, played by Peter Coyote whose intimate confession to a fellow passenger (played by Hugh Grant) about his marriage, pushes Hugh's character in a bizarre triangle between his own wife (played by Kristin Scott Thomas) and Peter's character's wife (played by Emmanuelle Seigner). Both married couples are faced with desire, self-destruction and deceit in this poignant drama, which does carry a recognisable trademark of its director, Roman Polanski.

For all those who think that this dark psychological drama from Roman Polanski is just kinky sex and full of S&M, it isn't - and simply isn't a film for you, or at least for what you want.There are a few reviews around where such people wanted those elements and when they didn't like the baggage and the 130 minutes running time, they gave it one star. This is an intelligent, 'thinking person' relationship drama that follows themes often visited by Polanski, not least his debut, the Polish language Knife In the Water. One couldn't help thinking there's a bit of Bertolucci's Last Tango In Paris and Kubrick's Eyes Wide Open in there too.However, despite all that is written, apart from the first few minutes, settling us into the characters and scenario, for the first hour or so, is actually a very lovely and often seductive and tender adult love story, set against the romance and beauty of Paris. With Peter Coyote's American writer, following and referring to other 'Americans in Paris' F Scott Fitzgerald and such, becoming the film's narrator and lead character, it really is the rose-tinted view of Parisian life and women that's fuelled popular culture and literature for decades.In this case, it's Polanski's actual wife (Emmanuelle Seigner) who plays the young and nubile dancer, Mimi, that takes on the older Oscar (Coyote). The seduction and (non-graphic) sex scenes are actually very sensual and erotic, enticing us into a world of bliss, allowing Polanski to share with us his own fantasies (perhaps) as well as putting this relationship on a high plateau, from which it ultimately disintegrates - this being the thrust of the movie.To give credence and body to all this, a now wheelchair-bound Oscar confides in reserved posh Brit Hugh Grant, in a sort of bitter wife-swap scenario, that's both warped and distasteful. They're all on a cruise to India, via Turkey and the in built confinement and boredom this provides is the prefect trap. Nigel Dobson (Grant) though, cannot keep away from these reminisces and his relationship with his own wife Fiona (Kristen Scott Thomas) is put under the microscope and the four slip into an unhealthy psychological mêlée.Throughout, Polanski is playful, devious, malicious and often in love with the idea of his wife playing the young temptress in all this. In my view - and circumstances - would say that this really needs the life experiences of those over forty in its audience for them to halfway appreciate human nature and all its dark sides, as well as its joys. Some say it is excellent, I think it far from being his best work but a whole lot better than many he's made.I bought my DVD from Cash Converters for 66.6p, recurring.