Besieged

“Touched by Genius. Cursed by Madness. Blinded by Love.”

Shandurai (Thandiwe Newton), an African woman in exile in Italy, keeps a house in Rome running while her husband sits in prison back home, and she has no way to free him. The only man in a position to help is Jason Kinsky (David Thewlis), who lives upstairs and is in love with her. Bertolucci, working from James Lasdun's short story, keeps the two of them in one house, and her husband's release depends on what she is willing to give.