• A giant “M” Masterpiece and prime candidate for the singular poster child of film art expressionism and the greatest mise-en-scene in film history
  • Simply one of the most beautiful movies ever made
  • There is a different color for each room— exteriors in blue, dining in red, bathroom in white, kitchen in green—some characters outfits change colors as does the cigarettes for Mirren
  • The Hals painting, tapestry here is gorgeous and copied by Greenaway- he does this, with painting and art in every film
  • The costume are stunning- Jean-Paul Gautier—pure expressionism
  • The Nyman score is haunting and probably his best (he always works with Greenaway and did the piano as well)
  • It’s political- a meditation on Thatcher and Reagan regime, greed—
  • It’s a colossal triumph for Gambon. His diction in the film is a marvel—he and his Albert are connected to Hopper/Lynch’s Frank Booth in Blue Velvet for sure
  • Ebert calls the film “uncompromising in every single shot”
  • Like all of Greenaway’s work we have an abundance of nudity and sexual curiosity bordering on perversion
  • It’s a wonder of color, tinting, and staging
  • Greenaway uses a series of tracking shots through the building—they’re sublime
  • Mirren (wife) and lover have a silent love affair to begin the film and for the longest time Gambon is the only one talking
  • In the outdoor scene there are two trucks, symmetrically set up, with open backs and detailed staging
  • There is different music in every room—we have the child singing opera, Nyman’s score stronger in the red dining area and lighter in the white bathroom
  • Dogs running around like crazy outside also park of the politics
  • Certainly harkens to the tinting by Hitchcock in vertigo and some of the work by Bava in blood and black lace and later Argento in Suspiria
  • Gambon has never been better
  • Mirren’s achievement is a tad lower but only slightly, her talking to her lover’s crying corpse is a great scene- wow
  • One of the ritual deaths (another Greenaway trait) has a man (the lover) literally killed with pages of a book
  • It’s intellectual and operatic, stylistically and formally perfect (days of the week on the menu with great detail)
  • A huge masterpiece