SOURCE: Bertolucci, Bernardo, and David Gritten. “His Just Desert: Director Bernardo Bertolucci Turned from the Epic Sweep of The Last Emperor to the Arid Alienation of The Sheltering Sky.” Los Angeles Times (9 December 1990): 23.

In the following interview, Bertolucci discusses the making of The Sheltering Sky, how the film differs from The Last Emperor, and his relationship with his film crew.

It's fair to say that if Bernardo Bertolucci believed in omens, he would never have embarked on The Sheltering Sky, his ＄22-million epic film adaptation of the 1949 Paul Bowles novel.

The Italian director, unquestionably one of the world's few great filmmakers, was of two minds about making The Sheltering Sky when he went to visit Bowles in Tangier. He was preoccupied by his wish to follow the astonishing success of his previous movie, The Last Emperor, which became both a commercial and critical hit, sweeping the board at...