COOK, THE THIEF, HIS WIFE AND HER LOVER, THE: DVD
SYNOPSIS:
The setting is a ritzy restaurant owned by vicious criminal Albert Spica (Michael Gambon) who likes to hold court beneath an enormous Frans Hals reproduction and humiliate his wife Georgina (Helen Mirren) and chef Richard Borst (Richard Bohringer). Love, sex, revenge and death receive the Greenaway treatment once Georgina begins an affair with a regular diner, the bookish Michael (Alan Howard).
Like most of Peter Greenaway's films The Cook, The Thief, His
Wife and Her Lover is a basic morality tale wrapped up in a
complex series of signs, games and esoteric references. One of
the few cinema intellectuals whose work has been widely seen,
Greenaway once stated that it's perfectly legitimate to interpret
E.T. as a metaphor for the death and resurection of Christ and
you know he could convince you straight away.
More savage and less playful than his earlier features -
Drowning By Numbers, The Draughtsman's Contract and A Zed and Two
Noughts to this point - The Cook The Thief....is a vivid Jacobean
melodrama expressing disgust for consumerism, avarice and the
vulgar manners of the nouveau riche. The setting is a ritzy
restaurant owned by vicious criminal Albert Spica (Michael Gambon)
who likes to hold court beneath an enormous Frans Hals
reproduction and humiliate his wife Georgina (Helen Mirren) and
chef Richard Borst (Richard Bohringer). Love, sex, revenge and
death receive the Greenaway treatment once Georgina begins an
affair with a regular diner, the bookish Michael (Alan Howard).
This film still pushes the limits of censorship as we're treated
to scenes of cannibalism, torture, graphic sex and an opening set-piece
in which a naked man is forced to eat his own excrement before
being urinated on.
If you can penetrate the deeper meaning of all this (or at
least are willing to try) The Cook The Thief....is a challenge
worth accepting. Visually it is magnificent, with Sacha Vierny's
widescreen photography, Jean-Paul Gaultier's costumes and the
production design of Ben Van Os and Jan Roelfs create an
unforgetable interior landscape that is lurid, lush and brutally
antiseptic by turns. While not Greenaway's best film - Gambon's
tirades are too repetitive and too long - this is still very
strong viewing and highly recommended for those who can approach
cinema without fear.
Richard Kuipers
Published August 16, 2001
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You can buy it HERE - next day delivery within Australia
THE COOK, THE THIEF, HIS WIFE AND HER LOVER
(R18+)
U.K/France (1989)
CAST: Michael Gambon, Helen Mirren, Richard Bohringer, Alan
Howard, Tim Roth.
DIRECTOR: Peter Greenaway
RUNNING TIME: 124 min
DVD DISTRIBUTOR: The AV Channel
DVD RELEASE: May 23, 2001
SPECIAL FEATURES: Widescreen 2.35:1, Trailer. Language: English.
Subtitles: None
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