Damn, Helen Mirren was one sexy piece of act back in the day.

The sets. The color-coded costumes. The Michael Gambon. The dark humor. Everything is so staged and artificial yet feels perfectly comfortable in its artificiality, lounging in its brightly-colored set design with a cocky grin on its face just daring you to call it out on its shit. But you can't, because you know that if you say anything, Albert Spica will shove books down your throat and kill you, your death set to a beautiful funereal score.

However--fuck everyone. Because the true star of the show is Sacha Vierny's camera, gliding through Spica's elegant restaurant like a regal serpent. Now that's a serpent I would put ranks into Handle Animal for (but actually probably not, because I get like two skill ranks to begin with, and I REALLY need a higher Diplomacy).

P.S. I saw penises in this movie teehee.

This is the first Peter Greenaway film I've seen, even though for a while now he's been one of those filmmakers I knew I would love (based just on seeing stills from his films). So I was a bit nervous to watch one of his films in case he wasn't as great as I'd already made him in my mind! Fortunately, that did not happen, and I really loved this film. It disturbed me in a way I've not experienced before, and Michael Gambon's character is surely one of the most loathsome in film history, but brilliantly played. Looking forward to watching The Draughtsman's Contract next.

It's a very artistic and elegant film, heavily symbolically charged, very European in its presentation of sexuality, and with Peter Greenaway's predilection for morbidity, it can only be awesome. The music is by Nyman, as usual, and it adds a great deal to the film. It's pretty strong though, with elements of sadism, coprophagia and cannibalism. On the other hand, the way the food is displayed gives one a healthy appetite.
It is important to pay attention to the change of colours - blue, green, red, white. It could be argued that "blue", aka outside the restaurant in the parking lot, might represent Earth, the "green" inside the kitchen could be purgatory, the "red" in the restaurant might represent hell - there is also a reference to a famous painting at the dinner table - and the "white" in the ladies' room might represent heaven. It might take a couple of viewings to digest everything this movie has to offer.

Just as good a second time. I think this is a highly regarded film, but far too underseen. Michael Gambon steals the show, but there is much here to marvel at, from the sets, the beautifully vibrant yet conflicting colors, the costumes, the dialogue, Helen Mirren, the reserved tension, uncomfortable humor, the constricting personalities, all the detail managed to fit in each frame, Tim Roth, the aristocratic score and of course, the ending... what an ending it is.

For the rest of the week, I'll have Michael Gambon saying "Georgie" stuck in my head.

More to come soon on the blog...

boring

helen

Damn, Helen Mirren was one sexy piece of act back in the day.

The sets. The color-coded costumes. The Michael Gambon. The dark humor. Everything is so staged and artificial yet feels perfectly comfortable in its artificiality, lounging in its brightly-colored set design with a cocky grin on its face just daring you to call it out on its shit. But you can't, because you know that if you say anything, Albert Spica will shove books down your throat and kill you, your death set to a beautiful funereal score.

However--fuck everyone. Because the true star of the show is Sacha Vierny's camera, gliding through Spica's elegant restaurant like a regal serpent. Now that's a serpent I would put ranks into Handle Animal for (but actually probably not, because I get like two skill ranks to begin with, and I REALLY need a higher Diplomacy).

P.S. I saw penises in this movie teehee.

What an absolutely amazing picture. The cast is phenomenal including early roles of Ciaran Hinds and Tim Roth being lead by The Queen herself Helen Mirren (whom we see full nudity from) and Dumbledore himself Michael Gambon (who spends the entire movie punching children, shouting obscenities, and stuffing his gullet with food). Structure this with excellent musical choices and firm tracking shots and you have an exceptional presentation. To top it all off the movie is a brutal critique of Margaret Thatcher's regime that I find beyond delightful. Peter Greenaway is a director I will be studying more deeply from now on.

More than a pinch pretentious, but the deliciously operatic finale compensates for the sour bits. Bon appetit.

I rented this on VHS way back in 1990. Quite memorable.

Life in the 1980s.