Thandie Newton in Besieged (1998)

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Review

Besieged (1998), from world-renowned filmmaker Bernardo Bertolucci (The Dreamers, Last Tango in Paris), casts tantalizing Thandie Newton as Shandurai, an African exile who moves to Italy where she studies medicine. To support herself, Shandurai runs the Roman palazzo of Mr. Kinsky (David Thewlis), who, in due time, declares his love for the studious beauty. Unbeknownst to Kinsky, Shandurai's reason for fleeing her homeland was the imprisonment of her husband by a dictator. Forced to choose between a life of luxury and working to free her spouse, Shandurai is besieged with crises. Viewers who take even a passing glance at Thandie will be besieged below the belt.