Besieged

(New Line)

This Bernardo Bertolucci pairing of an eccentric recluse and a comely young thing is no butter-slicked Last Tango in Paris but a cement-footed slow dance in Rome. Thandie Newton is an African medical student who flees her oppressive country after her husband is jailed; she cleans for kooky pianist David Thewlis, who stalks every flick of her feather duster before proclaiming his love. Although she rebuffs him, he agrees to help free her spouse, and this arthouse odd couple strike a tentative truce.