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swept away by his repressed feelings as he is filmed frontally in a scene where he runs after
Shandurai. His frantic body movements, combined with his contorted facial expression,
achieve a profound affective impact on the viewer. It is a visual approach which increases the
physical intensity of Kinsky's final, almost violent gesture, as he grips Shandurai's arms.
This is an instance where any sense of stylistic realism is totally abandoned, but on this
occasion, the technique is used to elicit an affective engagement from viewers; few spectators
are likely to be able to disengage themselves from the proceedings to reflect on this artificial
and emotional form of representation.
Conclusion
The film's extensive use of stylized visuals gives the impression that Bertolucci was in his
element in drawing on these devices to create the dual effect of a significant aesthetic impact
and that of an auteur still at the top of his game. By using these aesthetics to effectively
interrupt what is often an absorbing narrative, Bertolucci seems to ask viewers to reflect
intellectually on the implications of the on-screen emotions portrayed in Besieged, rather than
to share them passively. With regard to the development of the film's theme concerning an
encounter between individuals from different cultures and its examination of the socio-
economic, political and personal factors conditioning this emerging rapport. Bertolucci's
decision to use an open ending, creating doubt as to whether Shandurai, after sleeping with
Kinsky, will open the door to her husband as he arrives and rings the bell, is an approach that
would perplex mainstream cinemagoers with their expectations of narrative completion.
Similarly, as discussed earlier, the circumstances of this denouement and of the love scene
between Shandurai and Kinsky may exasperate more intellectually demanding viewers, and a
sense of deja vu may be experienced by those familiar with the director's earlier work such as
Last Tango in Paris. Bertolucci's predilection for cinematic spectacle and dramatic excess,
typified by Shandurai's act of offering herself to Kinsky. halts the progressive discourse
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