The Sheltering Sky (1990)

John Malkovich: Port

Photos 

Quotes 

• [first lines] 

  Port Moresby : Well, terra firma.

  Tunner : We're probably the first tourists they've had since the war.

  Kit Moresby : Tunner, we're not tourists. We're travelers.

  Tunner : Oh. What's the difference?

  Port Moresby : A tourist is someone who thinks about going home the moment they arrive, Tunner.

  Kit Moresby : Whereas a traveler might not come back at all.

  Tunner : You mean *I'm* a tourist.

  Kit Moresby : Yes, Tunner. And I'm half and half.

• Kit Moresby : Other people's dreams are so dull.

  Port Moresby : Kit has days when everything in the world is merely a sign for something else. A white Mercedes can't just simply be a white Mercedes. It must have a secret meaning about the whole of life. Everything is an omen. Nothing can just be what it is.

• Port Moresby : You know, if Tunner didn't take such long siestas, I'd never be alone with you. I think he's in love with you.

  Kit Moresby : Port, don't be silly.

  Port Moresby : Sillier things have happened. The way he hangs around making inane conversation, the way he looks at you when he fingers his DDT can...

  Kit Moresby : What else?

  Port Moresby : Oh, the ferocity with which he counts your luggage.

  Kit Moresby : Oh, he counts yours too.

  Port Moresby : It's not the same.

• Tunner : You've been to North Africa before, Port. Kit and I will just follow your plan.

  Port Moresby : My only plan is, I have no plan.

• Kit Moresby : Someday they're gonna kick the French out of this country.

  Port Moresby : Well, with trousers like that, who can blame them?

• Kit Moresby : According to Port, everyone eventually gets used to anything.

  Tunner : If that were true, it would be the end of progress.

  Kit Moresby : No, I'm sure it's true. I just don't know whether it's good or bad.

  Port Moresby : Neither.

• Port Moresby : Could you be happy here?

  Kit Moresby : Happy? Happy? How do you mean?

  Port Moresby : I mean, could you like it here?

  Kit Moresby : How do I know? God, I wish you wouldn't ask me questions like this! Really! I can't answer them. What do you want me to say? "Yes, I'll be happy in Africa"? I like Ain Krorfa so much, but I can't tell whether I want to stay for a month or I want to leave tomorrow.

  Tunner : You couldn't leave tomorrow even if you wanted to. Can't get any information about how to get out of this place. No buses, not even a fruit truck. Nobody speaks English. Anybody for a nightcap?

• Kit Moresby : Is that the plan?

  Port Moresby : More or less, yes.

  Kit Moresby : More or less?

  Port Moresby : Uh... Less, actually.

• Port Moresby : Here, the sky is so strange. It's almost solid. As if it were protecting us from what's behind. Look.

  Kit Moresby : What's behind?

  Port Moresby : It's nothing. Just night.

• Kit Moresby : Have you seen my tortoiseshell glasses? You know, the ones with the clip-ons?

  Port Moresby : Have you seen my passport? You know, the one with the photo?