Greenaway. Greenaway’s strengths are the two films in the top 156 and the dedication to his style even when it doesn’t fully succeed (Baby of Macon, Prospero’s Books). He’s certainly a style-plus director. On the flip side—beyond those top two films his work has many issues (very high highs and very low lows) and the depth isn’t there. Still, The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover is a boundlessly brilliant film (top 40 overall) and as detailed and meticulous as Greenaway is I can’t let him slip beyond #59 on this list. The images here speak volumes— such beautify and uniformity in his work.
Best film: The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover
- 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
total archiveable films: 8
top 100 films: 1 (The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover)
top 500 films: 2 (The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover, A Zed & Two Noughts)
top 100 films of the decade: 3 (The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover, A Zed & Two Noughts, The Draughtsman’s Contract)
most overrated: Not a thing. He may be cinema’s most underrated auteur.
most underrated: They’re all underrated but at least Cook The thief is in top the TSPDT top 1000- Zed & Two Noughts isn’t and that’s a travesty—and my pick here:
- It’s a major leap forward for Greenaway and a clear precursor to the cook, the thief, hjs wife and her lover
- Like most of the rest of his films there’s a symbolic death ritual finale
- Also like most of the rest of his work there is a large amount of cataloging in the film- Greenaway is a pure artist but there’s also a mathematician in there- he’s very numerical and formal in his approach
- Rhythmic in the editing
- Personally the cataloging thing fits my brain (hence the website and Excel charts of movie’s I watch, etc)
- About 20 minutes in there’s a jaw-dropping shot of a row of columns that likes like something from Welles, Dreyer or Tarkovsky
- Again, there’s clear self-referential auteurism here- in a newspaper article Greenaway basically lays out the plot of his next two films (including belly of an architect)
- His fascination with the Zebra is clear with the juxtaposition of color
- There’s an in-film documentary on evolution and we have photo montages of decay
- The mise-en-scene is masterpiece worthy- gorgeous, symmetrical, and absolutely packed—a master of set piece arrangement
- I wonder what Greenaway thought of Cronenberg’s dead ringers which came out after and also perverse doctor twins
- The Vermeer painting is a character in the film—he’s painting the frame here and copying like he did in draughtsman
- Nothing in the film or frame is accidental or just shows up once-it’s so formally sound and tight- it all comes back
- The score is a bit of a jig and reminds me of Aronofsky’s requiem for a dream
- There’s reoccurring shots of the hospital bed- beautiful work
- The twins grow more similar and dress more and more the same as the film goes along- they don’t look anything alike to begin with
gem I want to spotlight: Prospero’s Books
- It’s a visual marvel but its narrative momentum/strength isn’t near what some of his previous films are—as Ebert says, ““it need not make sense, and it is not “too difficult” because it could not have been any less so. It is simply a work of original art, which Greenaway asks us to accept or reject on his own terms”
- A few angry critics calling it pure arrogance and deriding it for being pompous
- Heavy nudity- hundreds of people—Greenaway always has nudity and sexuality play a big part of his films and there’s another device here with the attachment to books, like the cook, the thief—an intellectual work—pillow book coming in 1996
- Apparently the 24 books was based on the famous saying by Jean-Luc Godard that “cinema is truth 24 times a second”.—more cataloguing from Greenaway
- It’s Gielgud’s show- he’s the narrator and in every scene but we also have a young Mark Rylance show up and the great Erland Josephson
- Elaborate mise-en-scene and overall film and visual conception
- NYT “his films are planned from the first frame to the last”- and this is not a glowing review—still admiration there
- A ridiculously beautiful and elaboration opening credit sequence and tracking shot
- This is going to sound trite but Greenaway really is a painter with the frame—see pic below- he has characters literally holding a frame like over a moving piece of ark
- Walks the fine line between heavy expressionism and experimental film (which I don’t touch)
- It’s a miracle of costume work, architecture (welles, tarkovsky)
- Large cast and extras
- Mise-en-scene filled with pages falling (opening of Dunkirk)
- Slow and steady tracking shots
- It’s a weak narrative
- Not a fan of the frame within a frame done through video recording—I like it when the characters are holding a frame—there’s a lot of the former and not much of the latter
- Greenaway is cataloguing books that are, in themselves, catalogues on various subjects
- It’s very avant-garde and quite mad
- Kid opera singer from the cook, the thief—we have dogs running around—you could easily play Greenaway-bingo with all of his traits here
- It becomes a bit much and there’s nothing to pull you into the experiences except for the visuals and rhythms—but some of the images are seared into my memory they’re so stunning
- Color shading
- Clearly influenced 1999’s Titus
- Celebration of knowledge and art- a moving painting
- It reminds me of Aleksandr Sokurov’s 2002 Russian Ark
stylistic innovations/traits:
- Greenaway is one of the most instantly recognizable auteurs—perverse and postmodern—there’s an abundance of twinning (equilibrium) and detailed mise-en-scene staging
- Bird obsession in all of his films
- Symmetry and formalism—rooms for different colors in The Cook, The Thief, the symmetry of the two identical twins in A Zed & Two Noughts
- Stories on artists, an architect, a draughtman— order and art
- Greenaway is an aesthetician- it’s both exhausting and admirable (even when he’s wrong in his choices)
- Meditations on fetishism on fetish, pro-intellectualism, nudity, exercising, cataloguing, a love of books. Ritual murder/suicide
- Avant-garde, literary and an absolutely loaded mise-en-scene—certainly aggressively stylized we also have a ritual death and the eating of another person like the cook the thief her wife and her lover
- tableau shots – specifically characters at a table facing the camera a la da Vinci’s The Last Supper
- It’s intellectual and operatic, stylistically and formally perfect
- symbolic death ritual finale
- Also like most of the rest of his work there is a large amount of cataloging in the film- Greenaway is a pure artist but there’s also a mathematician in there- he’s very numerical and formal in his approach
top 10
- The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover
- A Zed & Two Noughts
- The Draughtsman’s Contract
- Prospero’s Books
- The Belly of An Architect
- The Baby of Macon
- The Pillow Book
- Drowning by Numbers
By year and grades
| 1982- The Draughtsman’s Contract | HR |
| 1985- A Zed & Two Noughts | MP |
| 1987- The Belly of an Architect | R/HR |
| 1988- Drowning By Numbers | |
| 1989- The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover | MP |
| 1991- Prospero’s Books | HR |
| 1993- The Baby of Macon | R |
| 1996- The Pillow Book | R |
*MP is Masterpiece- top 1-3 quality of the year film
MS is Must-see- top 5-6 quality of the year film
HR is Highly Recommend- top 10 quality of the year film
R is Recommend- outside the top 10 of the year quality film but still in the archives
I just watched The Cook, the Thief, his Wife and Her Lover based on your glowing recommendation on this page and it’s one of my favourite films of all time and I will definitely be checking out more Greenaway. Thank you for this website which is a valuable resource that I often visit and even if I dont agree with a lot of decisions you make I nonetheless find it interested to read your reasoning for them.
@Balal- thank you for coming to the website and sharing your thoughts here. I am very happy to hear this on Greenaway’s The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover
The Draughtsman’s Contract:
Some very nice compositions edited together with the opening credits
Candles in the set design like Barry Lyndon; Kubrick’s masterpiece is an obvious influence on Greenaway’s film
Greenaway has clear potential here but it’s not yet realized as it is in Cook
Framing with a literal frame at 13 minutes
A great low-angle shot using 3 layers of depth and a colorful red chair at 14 minutes
Symmetrical frames; one at 15 minutes
A bunch of sheep walking around; Bunuel did this pretty often actually
Another low-angle at 15 minutes
More symmetry at 17 minutes
Greenaway’s compositions are very nice but they don’t hit you like a car as in Cook
Voice-over of the title character detailing instructions so that he may complete his drawings of the estate
Rolling tracking shot at 21 minutes during a conversation around a dinner table; he expands on this in Cook as he rotates the camera around a dinner table in that film
Greenaway’s main influence is Fellini; there’s a shot at 24 minutes from a long distance that could come right out of Satyricon; despite that, the shot is, more than anything else, Greenaway
Avant-grade usage of music; placed at erratic intervals
3 levels of depth in a shot including an umbrella as mise-en-scene at 27 minutes
More blocking with the actual frames
Some wonderful shots utilizing fog at 31 minutes
Editing between the drawings and the actual locations in real life in montages as he completes the drawings
The same rolling tracking shot at the dinner table
Contrasting the drawings with an ink can and a black glove
As beautiful as this film is, I have to emphasize that Greenaway is not Kubrick; the camera movement, some of the set design and, more than anything, the overall feel of the film isn’t as developed as it is in Cook
Amazing image contrasting black and white of the title character and the lady of the house at 43 minutes
These rolling tracking shots in the conversation scenes are about all the camera movement there is in the film
There’s this strange character who paints his skin so as to look like a statue
Greenaway’s low angle shots are as strong as any director’s
There’s comparisons here to be made with Pasolini, like Teorema with the draughtsman having sexual relations with the lady of the house and her daughter or the general visual approach in Salò
Greenaway loves to contrast the draughtsman’s apparatus (the setup where he makes his drawings) with the locations he is drawing
He breaks down the various facets of a painting with its perspectives on time, infidelity, murder and other topics
Composition of 2 faces against a painting at 71 minutes
If there’s one film to arouse an interest in myself to rewatch Barry Lyndon and Salò it’s this film
A very inspired conversational scene at 75 minutes; one of the film’s single most gripping scenes; a long take that goes on for 5 minutes
Magic hour at 80 minutes
The draftman’s black wig contrasts greatly with his white coat in the latter scenes of the film
A jaw-dropping edit at 89 minutes; the previous scene didn’t seem over actually so it takes you by even more surprise, not that it isn’t brilliant in its own right
The takes are much longer in the final act of the film
A wonderful frame using natural lighting pouring into the frame at 95 minutes
The draftman is accosted by Thälmann and his friends with torches and masquerade masks; I wonder if this influenced the Coen brothers with the nihilists in The Big Lebowski actually
The draftsman is killed, his final contract lay burning, and the statue man gets off his horse and has some pineapple
Highly Recommend; the film’s narrative push is very strong and I love its biting dialogue but he’d do it all better in The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover
A Zed and Two Noughts:
The film has only just started and the editing is on a level The Draughtman’s Contract could only dream of having
A Zed and Two Noughts – Zoo
Brilliant camera movement into the car with the dead wives through the window with the radio voice over leading into a freeze frame into black and white into a newspaper; say all that fast three times
I almost feel unqualified to speak on this film’s utter brilliance
Flashing lights in his office as the camera zooms closer and closer into his face with the theme playing; fucking JAW-dropping cinema
This frame of the two of them almost the columns could be from the beginning of Nostalghia
The film suddenly turns into Mon Oncle d’Amerique talking about the beginning of life and it’s pretty cool; one of the twins (the blonde one) is watching a documentary
For twins, and not just in the movie, in real life too, they don’t really look all that much like eachother
Jaw-dropping symmetrical frames; the symmetry represents the twins
Greenaway builds character with what the twins find on the tables next to them
I’m not sure even Cook has dialogue quite as unconventional as this film
Notable background sounds of the animals in the zoo
Back to the documentary where we get this wonderful visual of a man walking through fog into the frame who speaks with the blonde twin
Blocking the frame, lots of flora in the set design
The film is filled with blinking lights
Brilliant symmetrical frame with lots of white all over the frame at 19 minutes
They’re trying to get the legless to reveal the story behind their wives’ death and getting nowhere with it
Another wower of Oswald (the blonde twin) still watching his documentary at 20 minutes
I can either keep trying to write this or have a heart attack from the rapid fire of the brilliant frames
Closeups of words cut out of nature-related books
Oliver putting together a glass pane covered in a bunch of snails for some reason?
Oliver’s room is completely yellow; throws out a prostitute leading us to a low angle shot of the apartment complex he’s living in
Oswald is with the prostitute and has her pretend to be his wife in more symmetrical frames
All the while Oliver is continuing to interrogate the legless woman; great intercutting
Oswald ate a bite out of an apple earlier and now he’s watching it decompose in another documentary video
There are lots of newspapers everywhere covering the story of the wives’ deaths
Greenaway really drops a cedar block on the stylistic gas pedal; brilliant stylist
Stunner of the twins and legless woman arranged on her bed with the twins facing apart and her facing forward towards them at 33 minutes
Musical cues from Greenaway; his use of music is a lot like Fellini’s actually; think the usage of Ride of the Valkyries in 8 1/2; and most of Greenaway is pretty much post-8 1/2 Fellini anyway; this film is a lot like Juliet of the Spirits, Fellini Satyricon and Amarcord visually
Frames within frames lit by lightning strikes at 36 minutes
The darkness of the night scene are so Cook; his later MP literally feels as if in its own insane world enraptured by the perpetual night around it; when this film is at nighttime, it looks so much like Cook
“The wives of two zoologists die in a car driven by a woman called Bewick attacked by a swan on Swan’s Way???”
Yes, her name is spelled Bewick, not Buick, but the pronunciation
The twins are with one of their daughter’s (I think it’s Oliver’s?), I love their dynamic together; it’s so much like Jeremy Irons in Dead Ringers which isn’t really a surprise given the subject matter
Wonderful mirror frame of Bewick getting her prosthetic leg fitted with the woman in the red dress seen through a window in the next room over
Greenaway does that rolling tracking shot with the closeup of Pesci in Casino 10 years early with some fish in an aquarium
There’s this recurring image of a tree and a fence from a picture on Bewick’s bedside table
Bewick has seduced both of the brothers
The brothers have become obsessed with the decomposition of animals and Oliver is attempting an experiment with a crocodile (Oswald was also just watching one in a nature documentary) in the middle of a bunch of tables filled with various dead animals of all kinds
Repeated argument about whether zebras are black with white stripes or white with black stripes; two of the characters are talking about this as a zebra trots behind them
Brilliant camera zoom out starting from the rear of the bald man’s zebra print jacket
Wonderful camera movement in a greenhouse as the twins, Oliver’s daughter, and Bewick are talking about Victor Hugo, Pinocchio, and legs; they sound like disparate topics but they bring it all together
The water in front of them is scattering the light around their faces
Editing between medieval artworks like the ending of Andrei Rublev
Stunner of the brothers and Bewick in her new (very pink) apartment with Oswald far from the camera and Oliver and Bewick closer to it at 59 minutes
The Big Sleep-esque dialogue as she reveals she will become a mother; moves by so quickly and so amazingly
Fast motion photography of two fish dying and decomposing
Most directors that try to be Fellini fail; Greenaway lands brilliantly
Another symmetrical frame at 62 minutes
A slow camera movement into the decomposing crocodile just like the one into the car at the beginning of the film
Depth of field shot of the daughter making a puzzle in the foreground and the brothers with Bewick in the background
“You pulling my leg?” Ha! That’s a good one
How many films can match this one in set design? I was so unprepared for this brilliance by The Draughtman’s Contract as promising as that film was
Bewick goes insane (not really) and talks about wanting to get rid of her remaining leg
They start talking about symmetry in real life; this is no surprise given the symmetry represents themselves
A complete reversal of the previous foreground/background shot; amazing
It’s happened; she now has no legs
Fast-motion photography of the dying crocodile
The giant “ZOO” logo reappears, with those two kids and their dog
We find out they are originally Siamese twins; then we see them running whilst taped together to find the kids who always appeared by the ZOO logo’s Dalmatian has been killed
More flashing lights as the camera moves around to show the twins’ grand experiment with the swans and crocodiles; the screen feels like it will just jump out at you
The ZOO logo from behind, with the bottom line of the Z can be seen resembles 007
The two from earlier are still arguing over zebras, one of them says “the letter Z was invented especially for zebras,”
Decomposition of a swan
A reflection through 2 mirrors at 80 minutes
An utterly loaded scene (cigarette packs notable in the mise-en-scene) at 81 minutes
An incredible visual effect produced by the camera moving between the bars of the zebra cage
Formal brilliance as Bewick, who wants to meet another cripple, is brought to meet a legless man arguing about the zebra for various intervals during the movie; he is her twin
Nearly unparalleled usage of music in cinema; not on the level of, say, Kubrick or Tarkovsky, but it’s closer than just about anyone thinks
Wow; now the brothers, once separated, want to be put back together; I knew this film was going to be like Crash from that first shot in the car haha
The dead Dalmatian has finally decomposed
Blinking lights once again as they acquire a zebra to watch decompose
A great frame with; you guessed it: symmetry as Bewick gives birth to twins
Staggering frame with 3 layers of depth of the brothers and Bewick at 95 minutes
The decomposition of the zebra occurs; again, fast motion
A stunning frame as the brothers stand up… together
Mise-en-scene including a fence (recurring images of fences) and a sprinkler, not to mention the ZOO sign, as the prostitute enters the Zebra cage for the first time, walking towards the sign
As I go on I see less Fellini and more Kubrick, but more than anything it’s starts morphing into something completely distinct as I watch more of Greenaway’s cinema
Yet another symmetrical shot; one of the film’s greatest; of Bewick lying in bed with the brothers sitting next to her as Oliver plays her a record which Bewick dies to
A gorgeous achievement in color through and through
It’s interesting how the twins don’t really associate much with eachother at the start of the movie, but as time goes on, and they both find this attachment to this woman, they become closer and closer together
Finally, the brothers walk past this zebra print fence, in the field from the recurring photograph I mentioned earlier, in the same suit (literally one suit), and take off all of their clothes, play the record, and set the stage for the recording of their own decompositions; the camera gives us a full rotation around this entire apparatus they have set up, stopping at their heads
Snails have taken over the entire area, as (one of ) the theme plays, immediately followed by the next one
The snails cut off the electricity of the system, so sadly, there is no final timelapse with the brothers and their grand project is halted
You could probably write a thesis about Greenaway’s perspective on death
If I ever get Patron on Letterboxd I’m making the ZOO sign my banner
A masterpiece
The Belly Of An Architect:
Opens with the editing of the two leads having sex on the train
Rolling shot in the cemetery
A bit cringy conversation as the two prepare to leave the train
Immediately followed up by a Wower of a montage combined with music; amazingly done, clearly an artist’s hand
Great tracking shot as we see the two at dinner at night; absolutely wonderful; predecessor to the recurring tracking shot in Cook
And it leads into this beautiful; and even symmetrical; shot of him and his party at dinner as they present him with this cake based on a building
Interesting bit about a reference to gravity in an English banknote depicting Isaac Newton; he leaves the note in the 🎂
Another tableau shot from a low angle at 9 minutes that then edits into a tracking shot across their faces as church bells ring
A great shot of Dennehy walking around his apartment as Webb is lying on their bed; great set design in the frame
Great montage of Dennehy flipping a bunch of pages that all depict similar images; reminds me of the opening of Godard’s Tout Va Bien
Great usage of bodies in the frame as well as columns at 15 minutes
Dennehy is here to promote an architect who nobody but he seems to know he exists; but of a running gag about how he’s the only person who has heard of him
This guy who is trying to sexually harass Webb dies and a bunch of reporters get around the body like La Dolce Vita
Blocking with a giant bowl of peaches at 19 minutes
Closeup of Dennehy with columns all around him at 20 minutes; great but subtle image
Framing using a doorway as Dennehy starts vomiting in a bathroom
Dennehy makes a blowup of a statue of the Roman Emperor Augustus as green lighting flashes around his face and then makes a second blowup of the Emperor’s stomach, holding his majestic stomach up to his own
Great shot of Dennehy walking alongside Latin writing; Bertolucci does this in The Conformist
“This is the tomb of Augustus?” “Yes… but he is not home.”
A wower of Webb in the foreground on the right side of the screen and Dennehy watching her on the left side in the background at 27 minutes
Dennehy begins writing a letter to Boullée, his long since-passed favorite architect, believing his wife is poisoning him as part of her “animosity towards Boullée”
Amazing shot of Webb and another man in a somewhat-trashed room at 33 minutes; I believe she is having an affair with this man
They walk off frame into a mirror; really awesome
Webb is pregnant and her affair partner guesses, but Dennehy did not
Great frame with dark lighting at 36 minutes
Great lighting in a beautiful frame in some Roman ruins at 38 minutes; almost looks like it was shot in the magic hour
Voiceover during this scene of Dennehy (who is in the frame not doing this) writing another letter to Boullée about his problems with his stomach; he vomits and a wolf comes and starts licking it up
His narration of the letters is really great
He starts talking about his problems with his wife as he observes who I believe are Webb and Caspasian (her affair partner)
Stunning edit where the previous scene ends suddenly and we get to Dennehy waking up in a bathtub looking as fat as ever
Edits into a great shot of Webb again in foreground in the apartment getting dressed as Dennehy is still in the bath way back in the background; they’re talking about Octavian’s wife Livia and architecture when Webb reveals she’s going out to dinner without Dennehy
“You look really good! In fact, you look so good I wouldn’t be surprised if you’re going out with Caspasian alone!”
They’ve been here for 2 months? She reveals to him she’s pregnant from when they had sex on the train
Of course he starts writing to Boullée again about his wife’s pregnancy
Dennehy walking into the light at 48 minutes; great shot
Brilliant mise-en-scene with Dennehy alone in his studio as the camera moves into his face and the fast theme plays
He pours out some pills over a bunch of drawings of some of Boullée’s architecture
He overhears Caspasian talking about his affair with Webb
Dennehy is shown the first likeness of Boullée and he is a fat man with a large stomach; not unlike himself; he denies that it is Boullée however
Not the only Greenaway film with a slightly-crazy male lead whose wife is having an affair…
A filled frame with pulleys and the like at 53 minutes
Dennehy back at the printer with the green lighting
A staggering frame; the film’s greatest at this point; at 54 minutes; Greenaway fills the entire frame with mise-en-scene; I believe what we’re looking at is the Boullée expedition itself
I believe he comes home to find his wife in her affair; he looks through the keyhole and… he does. He watches them for a little while
This little boy he met on the stairs walking to his apartment is watching him
Ha! He pulls up a chair to have a better time watching them and it breaks under his massive weight
He gives a spinning top to the boy, who then himself goes to watch through the keyhole, but they have since turned off the lights; he covers himself with one of Dennehy’s drawings of his stomach afterwards
Stunning Antonioni-like usage of architecture here as we get another voiceover montage of Dennehy narrating a letter to Boullée about topics like Vitamin C (he crushes an orange in his fist which he still eats anyway for some reason) and watched a man sculpting a statue next to him
As I expected he gets increasingly more deranged as the film goes on
A blinding image of smoke in the frame as Dennehy walks out of the sauna, looking increasingly more like the drawing of Boullée he was shown; this is a frame within a frame here and outside of the frame, a man sits in the light of a fire; staggering imagery with the towels appearing as togas
Montage of Roman art at 63 minutes
Great composition of Dennehy in medium-closeup and the other men from the sauna, including Dennehy’s physician, further away surrounded by some Roman art
Great shot of 3 windows including the two lovers at 65 minutes; cool colors on the outside and warm colors on the inside; both of the two other windows have Roman busts
You can actually see Roman busts through a lot of doorways and windows in this film actually
Another montage of Roman art with the fast theme playing at 68 minutes
Greenaway mostly shoots on sets but, unsurprisingly, this seems to be largely location shooting
Great one of Dennehy and one of the women from the Boullée exhibition outside the Roman fountain I think from La Dolce Vita (though it was shot in a set in LDV)
Stunning frame in the photographer’s studio at 71 minutes; Dennehy wears a robe here which can be interpreted as a toga
Rolling tracking shot in a montage full of pictures taken by the woman over the course of the exhibition; detailing his health decline and his wife’s infidelity; amazing
He then has sex with the photographer in her studio blocked by a camera; Caspasian, her brother comes in and takes a picture of them, but later it is revealed that she took the film out of the camera
A bit like Don’t Look Now actually which has a similar premise
Another shot inside the Boullée expedition at 80 minutes
Tracking shot across a wall of pictures of stomachs; really incredible; edits to Dennehy dressed in all red staring at it
Dennehy has brought the printer; which is now overloaded; next to his bedroom; he has covered the floor in pictures
Great one of Webb walking in and seeing the picture floor as Dennehy sits in the mirror; physically off-frame
Dennehy is going to take rash financial decisions to complete the exhibition
“Snapping his fingers! I’d like to snap his neck! He sure snapped you up but he’s not going to snap up this exhibition!”
“Our child? Our child? Do you even know who the father of our child is? OUR child is going to be born in America!”
Great shot of Dennehy and the proprietor of the exhibition standing amongst some columns at 90 minutes
At long last he writes another letter to Boullée about the loss of his wife and the exhibition, and personally asks Boullée to open the exhibition
Great shot contrasting columns with busts on opposite sides of the frame at 92 minutes
One bust resembles Boullée; he is asked how the man in the bust died, and Dennehy details the way he wants to die, but says he actually dies at 71 in Rome
Dennehy and the doctor he is with converse about “Late Spring”
We return to the location where the first dinner was had at the start of the film; the same tracking shot comes as we then see Dennehy splashing water over his face in the fountain
He crashes whatever dinner is going on there (he is probably drunk), eventually revealing he has cancer at the end of it all
And there it is; that beautiful shot amongst the Roman statues of body parts; 105 minutes
The opening of the Boullée exhibition at 107 minutes as Caspasian pulls an obviously pregnant Webb out of his car, with Dennehy watching them
Dennehy is given the English banknote he forgot in the cake at the beginning of the movie by a guard at the exhibition
Some epic-scale imagery of the visionary architect Boullée’s work; astounding images in this part of the film
Dennehy is on a balcony; will he try to jump off or something?
The audience of the exhibition in the foreground facing rightward as Dennehy watches them from above
A massive achievement for Dennehy as an actor
Webb cuts the ribbon to the expedition and her baby is born immediately afterward, before Dennehy jumps off onto his car and dies with the banknote slipping out of his hands into the wind
Epic imagery involving the kid watching the toy Dennehy gave him earlier; it breaks
I feel if this had won the Palme it would be better known; received a nomination
I can’t tell if it’s coincidence or prophecy that my stomach feels really terrible after watching this movie
Ranked #6918 on TSPDT and his 10th-most viewed film on Letterboxd (though only Cook has more than 10k viewers at 35k; Draughtsman at #2 has 8.6k) with only 3.6k viewers (and the reception it gets on there is nothing to write home about) which is very underrated
Leaning Masterpiece
Drowning By Numbers:
Really hoping for a MP with this film but if it’s just a MS I think I’ll still be satisfied
The blinking lights are back from A Zed and Two Noughts; brilliant shot with a dead owl in the foreground to start the film
Two zombielike people are walking around a woman jumping rope and a blinking lighthouse; shot from a low angle; really strong
Symmetry once again; at this point it almost unfazed by it since I’m never surprised to see it
The girl is counting the stars while jumping rope; the title comes into view with a shot of the stars
Set design of the zombielike drunkards house; fruit all over the frame; lots are spilled on the floor
The camera slowly moves closer to them as they take off their clothes; a bathtub comes into view behind them
She finds a tub full of apples outside; a low take with a series of rolling tracking shots; she is in a garden; great camera movement
The film edits between some of their food as they’re having sex
There’s a snail here like in A Zed and Two Noughts
A woman who appeared next to the jump-roping girl earlier walks in and drowns the man and his bathtub; the titular Drowning; a musical cue comes on as it happens
Symmetrical frame as some sheep seem to have taken over a farmhouse; a telephone at the centerpiece of the shot
A handheld shot at 12 minutes leading into a house of cards that falls down in slow motion; handheld cinematography is pretty new for Greenaway actually
Mirror shot at 13 minutes
Brilliant set design of the house with the telephone inside; an organized mess
The kid who lives there loves to play games he invents that are presented to us by montages
Greenaway seems to have been influenced by Tarkovsky’s The Sacrifice (2 years earlier) with some of the visual approach here; lots of slow moving tracking shots and images in nature
Greenaway always seems to have 2 separate but similar musical cues for his films; one very fast and somewhat chaotic and another slower but more methodical
Staggering depth in the frame at 22 minutes; I’m pretty sure I remember Drake spotlighting this frame on the Greenaway page; a brilliant low angle with architecture
Greenaway is known for his celebration of death; here, the kid celebrates death by setting off a firework as the coroner is brought to see and cover up the drowning
The kid playing in the background as they discuss the terms in the foreground l
Another game where everybody has to catch a stick where every stick dropped causes them to have to suffer a handicap; this is as the hearse is picking up the body which nobody pays any mind to
The kid is with the girl jumping rope now; they talk about the stars above and how she is circumcised which doesn’t make sense
A stunning frame amongst the trees as one of the main three women and her boyfriend have sex with fog coming in; this could be from The New World or Valhalla Rising
Contrasting green and orange lighting of the three women in their car
A frame straight out of the early part of Edward Yang’s A Brighter Summer Day at 37 minutes
Brilliant depth of field work with 3 faces in the frame also at 37 minutes
It’s probably not a coincidence that many of the men in this film resemble Brian Dennehy
3 women named Cissie Colpitts; one an elderly woman, one the mother of the young boy, and one a very young swimme
Wow; an asymmetrical frame at the pool hall with 2 doorways on the left side, a target in the middle, and 3 women (2 of which are the other 2 Cissie Colpitts) on the right side, with the water in the pool at the bottom; fantastic shot
They are at the victim’s funeral now; the camera moves between the 3 women to show the coroner; his story is that the man died of a heart attack which is dismissed by some as too convenient; they would be right
The kid ruins the funeral by setting off more fireworks
The numbers went over my head at first but now I realize they’re the second part of the title; a 49 appearing in the frame; and now a 50 as I’m writing this; I recall at 29, a 31 and a 33 before
Running gag about how the youngest Cissie and her boyfriend get found by everybody having sex but never get married
A wonderful composition at 47 minutes
A man is drowning out in the sea (they are at a beach party) and it’s a while before anyone helps him
The frame with the 51 comes after the frame with the 53
The 50 is backwards in the background (05) of a tracking shot across the entire beach party
We cut back to the boy and the jumprope girl and they’re talking about the story of Samson and Delilah; 55 appears in a picture that he shows her
The camera tracks backwards through the coroner’s room (the one filled with the sheep from earlier with the telephone); the boy is in there as well; a 56 is on his cricket bat, a 57 is on a camera in the room, and a 59 appears on an 8-ball; I cannot find the 58
The kid has a bunch of tape on him and a few numbers (34, 60, maybe a few more) are written on him
He takes a picture with the camera and the oldest Cissie appears suddenly in the frame
The boy is obsessed with moths; there are lots of numbers (61, 62, 63) next to drawings of moths in a book he has; we saw this book earlier in the film, if I watched it a second time and payed more attention to the numbers like I do now I could find a lot more probably
They are driving in a forest; a jogger wearing a Jersey with the letter 64 on the back is running in front of them
Took me this long to realize why so many characters were just counting randomly in the film; the girl jumping rope, and the 3 Cissies at the funeral
Wonderful tracking shot at 57 minutes at the beach house
A 66 on the left side of the frame on a cross
Just realized this genius; a lot of the things repeat in the film; numbers; characters being found in flagrante, drownings, the scenes of the games, the kid setting off fireworks; this is brilliant
The long take of the tracking shot has been going on for a few minutes now; great stuff
https://youtu.be/vVPT0JT1dOw
Middle Cissie’s husband is using a typewriter; we see a 65 and a 66 in what he’s writing
Wonderful frame as Cissie’s husband walks into the waves as he leaves his clothes in the foreground; not just saying that cause it’s leading into a drowning; it’s a great image in its own right
A track team is jogging along the beach; yes, they have numbers on their shirts
The symmetry also represents numbers; the number 2, specifically; all a part of Greenaway’s grand design here
Middle Cissie goes out to him in the ocean and drowns him like old Cissie had with the first man
67 68 69
KISS ME HARD
(from the typewriter)
NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS
Two of the track runners have the numbers 70 and 71 on their jerseys
Musical cue to accompany the second drowning; music is used more sparingly here than in Greenaway’s other 4 films I’ve seen
The aesthetic and feel of the film honestly isn’t so different from Resnais’ My Uncle from America; both shot by Sacha Vierny of course
Amazing tracking shot at the second funeral; the track runners are there as well
74 on a piano in the church
We return to the epic set piece water tower from that great depth shot from earlier; a 49 on the column as I previously noticed
Not much of a note on the film but some guy who looks like Michael Myers (Halloween) appears in some photos owned by the kid
76 and 77 are written on two cows that the youngest Cissie and her boyfriend ride by on bicycles; they then hit and kill a cow with a 79 on it
The number 26 is on the license plate of the car
The coroner is trying to enter sexual affairs with all 3 of the women
Great shot with some nets and a hanging flashlight that the coroner and middle Cissie walk up to
80 appears on a card, 81 is one of the pages in a book and 82 is written on a notepad
83 is on one of the columns of the barn; the handheld cinematography returns; an 84 written on a piece of paper in the barn
The kid circumcised himself; the jumprope girl told him earlier that she was circumcised; wonderful form here
Back to the pool hall; the number 85 appears on the key to the pool
There’s a bit earlier about how young Cissie’s boyfriend doesn’t know how to swim; he’s in the pool using floats that Cissie unties from him and he drowns because of it
How many films can be said to have this one’s formal rigor?
She throws a radio into the pool; the man on the radio says the number 86
I may have mentioned that the pool is open top earlier; they are surrounded by pitch darkness other than the lights in the pool
I have to rewatch this sometime; I missed a lot of numbers early on in the film and it showed in the drastic change of topic when I first started mentioning the numbers
Amazing tracking shot as the main characters walk across a burning field; this amazing set piece could be from Godard’s Weekend
Staggering composition of the characters inside a motorcycle store at 89 minutes; so beautiful
The camera tracks in the same way it always does in the film (formal rigor in the camera movement; wonderful) as we find out young Cissie is keeping her boyfriend’s body at the shop
The letter 91 please on a tree at the farm
They discuss numbers in relation to leaves on a tree; fish in the sea, hairs on one’s head, etc
The track runners do nothing in the film; there’s no reason for them to be anywhere but they’re there anyway; it’s amazing; the three Cissies even have a bit about what the hell they’re doing at the funeral for people they never knew
The kid keeps on playing with fireworks at the funerals as usual; I forgot to mention but he set a guy on fire actually at the second funeral
Great shot along a waterfront at 94 minutes; I wasn’t surprised at all when this transformed into a tracking shot
There are a bunch of fish out of water lying along the waterfront connecting to the recent conversation
They find 3 numbered fish: 92, 93, and 94
“Madgett, can you get it up 3 times in an afternoon?”
Formal rigor in the sheep being just about everywhere for no reason; subtlely brilliant; I don’t even know why Greenaway does it but it’s awesome
A lob shot of the jumprope girl who starts counting again
Another musical cue coming in at 101 minutes as we get one last game about good and evil using tug of war; the track runners have also come with their friends to play as well
The cars they drive up in are numbered 97 and 98
The kid hangs himself as part of another game before a series of fireworks go off
Great shots of the area at nighttime as the fireworks go off; there’s an amazing one with fog moving past a tree at 110 minutes
The 3 Cissies, despite their varying ages, all seem to have something of a hive mind really
Madgett, the coroner, ends up on a rowboat with the 3 Cissies; I wonder what will happen
They dispose of 3 items precious to those they killed previously, which they all destroyed prior to the deaths; old Cissie a pitchfork, middle Cissie the typewriter, and young Cissie the radio; they then throw flowers off the boat as Madgett takes off his clothes
In turn, they all kiss Madgett, young Cissie doing so particularly vigorously
A great shot contrasting the rowboat with the fireworks going off on shore
The film ends with one last firework going off as we see the number 100 on the rowboat
#2585 on TSPDT; honestly I myself feel this should probably be higher than wherever I’ll put it on my list; definitely plan to rewatch this in the future, and it will come as no surprise actually if a second viewing puts this in the top 100 for me
Hard to choose between this and Dead Ringers but it’s a great choice for the best film of 1988
A masterpiece
The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover:
I had originally planned this to come after a viewing of Prospero’s Books but I could not find it in decent quality and Drake didn’t even seem to think it was that amazing anyway so I just left it to be viewed some other time
Loved by Ari Aster who directed the incredible Hereditary and Midsommar
Opens with the imagery of the dogs eating a corpse I think? As the camera then moves up and the music comes on as the credits play
I mean, goddamn, when that music comes on, the film just comes alive
Where does the film even take place? I mean, I know it’s London, but I’d only know that because I’m told it’s London; it doesn’t feel like anywhere identifiable in the world at all, just this dystopian hellscape
Great color lighting in the two meat trucks on the sides of the frame
Lots of hanging pig heads in the yellow truck; so eerie
Smoke billowing across the frame as they enter Le Hollandais for the first time
This tracking shot as they walk inside; oh my God; set design, camera movement, usage of depth, lighting; it has everything a film needs
Wonderful composition at 7 minutes
Gambon has his gang bring in some neon lights to show off his extravagance
They just beat up some guy outside who Gambon pissed on; occasionally it cuts back to him dying or whatever on the ground with the trucks standing over him
Gambon is on another level here; his performance is very Brechtian; epic in scale; despite how big his performance is I’d hesitate to say he’s overacting
One must note the color changes in the mise-en-scene as they walk between the rooms; their clothes are green in the kitchen, red in the dining room, white in the bathroom, and blue when they’re outside; these changes typically happen mid-scene actually
Gambon’s wardogs perfectly exemplify his character; brutal violence; I wouldn’t be too surprised if Winding Refn was a fan of this film; his style is pretty close to what Greenaway does here
Set design doesn’t get much better than the arrangements in the kitchen and dining area; when you combine it with the way the camera moves throughout the film you have a masterpiece, simply put; there’s no other way about it
Mirren can hardly seem to bring herself to as much as look at Gambon
I could listen to Gambon insult everyone around him for hours
The camera movement as it edits between sets and colors is so smooth, but without feeling artificial (as it actually is)
A beautiful shot as Gambon is groping Mirren with Howard watching out of focus in the background
Friday at 29 minutes
I love the blatantly excessive outfits on the waiters; all in red of course
Giant painting always appearing to the left of them when at the dinner table; love to see it in the frame
Such brilliant attention to detail of everything in the frame as Mirren is walking through the kitchen with Howard to meet Bohringer; the kitchen here is truly a living organism
The rhythmatic cuts to cooks preparing food as Mirren and Howard are having sex will make you think you’re watching Dancer in the Dark
Gambon walks in and the music ramps up so hard in intensity
Massive bass drop as Gambon walks back into the dining room; haha; he harasses Howard who he is already suspicious of right afterward
Gambon starts off on a bit about breasts before grabbing Mirren’s and realizing she is not wearing a bra; she forgot to put it back on after she and Howard evaded him in the kitchen
Tim Roth is here as one of the gangsters before he ever worked with Tarantino (mostly because this was before Tarantino ever worked himself)
A great shot coming in at 42 minutes as Gambon harasses the child opera singer working in the kitchen and forces him to sing for him; blocking the frame with some drapes on each side
Brilliant frame using the two meat trucks on each side of the frame as Gambon forces Mirren into his car and rapes her; the dogs are running amok across the frame as this is going on
Saturday at 45 minutes
The use of shadows in this film is marvelous; one of Mirren and Howard having sex behind a drape as the shadow clearly shows them on the other side
I can’t think of any film off the top of my head that has a comfortably superior combination of music and camera movement utilized in tandem; it’s even better when you combine it with the usage of deep focus
Previously they were eating relatively conservative meals but now Gambon and his party are stuffing themselves heavily
Mirren arrives and she sports comically apparent bruises all over herself
Great frame at 49 minutes; Mirren and most of the gang are eating on one side of the table facing us whereas Ciaran Hinds is on the other side in the corner of the screen facing away from us
I almost wonder if Gambon’s dialogue was actually written or if he just improvised it as he went on; I can’t believe it’s not made up on the spot; so much of the film is shot almost like a comedy skit
Gambon hates Jews; randomly goes on a tangent about Howard being Jewish and harasses him for it; he doesn’t even look Jewish at all actually
Mirren and Howard turn Gambon’s show of force against Howard on its head by sharing a series of sexual innuendos in front of his gang
“Thank you for introducing me to your wife. I like your…(long silence) name.”
“It’s a man! He’s Jewish! And he’s from Ethiopia! His mother is a Roman Catholic, he’s been imprisoned in South Africa, he’s as black as the Ace of Spades, and he probably drinks his own pee!”
Staggering rolling shot as Gambon wrangles Mirren around the restaurant before forcing into his car
Sunday at 57 minutes
Kicks it off with an amazing tracking shot around the dinner table; very slow; the subtlety of it often doesn’t hit you until it’s almost done; the first time I watched this movie I actually rewinded just so I could watch it again
Meat is hanged around Mirren and Howard as they’ve found their latest liaison hideout; this is actually the first time they’ve spoken to eachother while alone
Running gag about how much time Mirren spends in the bathroom (having sex with Howard)
The cooks in the kitchen all despise Gambon (none more so than Bohringer) so they’re content to allow Mirren’s and Howard’s affair without issue
Gambon publicly flogs a customer who refuses to move his table; pours soup on him, parades him around in front of the other customers, etc
Between the constant wife beating, berating of his own associates, and the abuse of his workers this is just one thing in a series of Gambon’s terrible acts
Oh no; Howard and Mirren are seen leaving the kitchen by one of the gangsters’ girlfriends
Great shot of Howard leaving the restaurant framed by the doors, the outside scaffolding, the cars and trucks and the drapes; all of it bathed in the outside blue
The days get shorter and shorter; already Monday at 69 minutes
Amazing frame to start the day; we’re outside; green lighting in the trucks and the inside of the restaurant, the color blue everywhere else, the dogs running amok, and the Le Hollandais sign at the top of the screen
Another one right after this; Howard in the middle of the frame and Mirren on the far left in a pantry; they’re bathed in green lighting and surrounded by all these cups and bowls
Gambon drives the car right into the middle of the frame; it holds such a presence; I wonder what Mirren is doing away from Gambon actually, he went somewhere without her?
Long tracking shot as he and the gang walk into the restaurant; a mini-tour somewhat
Love the running gag about Howard being a Jew despite not being one; just such a random thing to make a big thing about
Gambon stabs a fork into the gang moll after she reveals Mirren’s and Howard’s affair and immediately trashes the women’s bathroom in front of a number of patrons
Brilliant frame at 75 minutes; one of the best; Mirren, Howard, and Bohringer’s dark silhouettes surrounded by hanging pigs and yellow lighting through fog (they’re hiding from Gambon in the pig truck)
Haha; you can visibly see Gambon getting tired as he tears the kitchen apart screaming Mirren’s character’s name
“I’ll kill him, and then I’ll eat him!”
Morricone-like musical cue at 77 minutes
Great one at 78 minutes of Mirren and Howard standing between two columns; it then dissolves into Howard’s library (he’s always reading books earlier in the film, some of which Gambon steals and has cooked)
Tuesday at 81 minutes
The kid opera singer has come to Howard’s library and serves them food; he’s wearing one of those ridiculous outfits Gambon has the waiters wear
The kid takes some books back with him and his immediately accosted by Tim Roth on his way back, with Gambon arriving right afterward, he uses the address found in one of the books to track down Howard
Great one with the scaffolding and two cars as Gambon and the gang are staggered around the frame at 84 minutes
He feeds the kid the buttons like he later feeds the paper to Howard and is later fed Howard to himself
Mirren goes to visit the beaten kid in the hospital whereas Howard unwisely stays at the library
The hospital is all yellow; even Mirren’s gloves are yellow whereas they were red or green earlier in the film
Great long shot inside the hospital using the beds at 89 minutes
The film’s greatest image at 81 minutes as Gambon kneels down in the library surrounded by books; amazing shot
Gambon goes on a bit about seafood, all the great dictators and generals of history loved seafood so he says
Slightly creepy scene as Mirren talks to and sleeps next to Howard’s dead body
I haven’t mentioned her performance up to this point like I have Gambon’s, but she is really sublime, but it’s not until these last 30 minutes that she really comes through in full
Gambon still going on about Howard’s non-existent Jewishness; just so absurdly funny
It eventually comes to the point that Bohringer just throws Gambon out of the restaurant
There’s this great edit where one of Gambon’s gangsters slams the doors shut, glass audibly shatters, and we cut to a closeup of Mirren
Wow; Mirren and Howard lying together in the library at 100 minutes, surrounded by his torn books
Brutal confessional scene as Mirren describes many of the atrocities she suffered at Gambon’s hands to the dead Howard; actually there aren’t too many scenes like this in Greenaway’s filmography, not even in Draughtsman’s Contract or Belly of an Architect which are his other two somewhat character-driven films
Another great edit dissolving between Mirren’s face and the now-cleaned kitchen
Staggering long shot inside of the kitchen at 103 minutes
There aren’t too many films that can best the lighting used here
Mirren is completely broken by Howard’s death as you can see by her conversation with Bohringer here; falling apart; she asks him to describe Howard’s love to her to prove he really loved her and he does
The painting that so often appears in the restaurant is now shown outside
The 2nd Friday is the last day in the film; the restaurant is closed for a “private function”
“Your bottom’s gonna be very very sore for weeks!” Gambon’s line delivery of everything is top-tier
Amazing final scene as Bohringer leads the procession with Howard’s body, followed by all of the people Gambon attacked over the course of the film (including the kid), before serving the body to Gambon
“I’ll kill him! And I’ll eat him!”
Great tracking shot close-up around the body of Howard
Great image of Gambon standing over the dead body of Howard hardly able to hold a knife and fork
Earlier in the film he berated Roth for vomiti at the restaurant; here he vomits before eating a piece of Howard
That tracking shot before she finally shoots Gambon… and then the drapes close as the credits roll…
A masterpiece
@Zane, it isn’t that I don’t love reading this about Bunuel or the other films, but the Greenaway praise makes me especially happy to see as he’s been underrated for far too long. Again, very impressive work here- congrats.
Yeah I just so happened to come across all of his films except for The Baby of Macon, and I knew you thought he was amazing and I had already seen Cook and loved it so I decided to take a detour into him myself.
@Zane – clearly, the world doesn’t deserve this comment. It was wonderful reading this honestly, particularly since I’m thinking of diving deeper into Greenaway myself. I’ve seen the Cook four times and it is a seminal film in my book. I read through your observations on the other films as well, and I’m very eager to visit them. I very much agree with your highlighting the camera movement and use of music in the Cook. “When the music plays, the film truly comes to life” – I wholeheartedly agree. I adore the Cook, and there is nothing on it that is less than masterful, but it’s not as effective (and traumatic, perhaps) without Michael Nyman’s score. It still gives me goosebumps everytime I hear it. The Cook is such an angry, expressionistic, visceral, baroque, operatic masterpiece, and I’m all the more interested in exploring more of Greenaway’s oeuvre. Great work on the comment – it’s a masterpiece
@Georg – thanks for the comment! Honestly, whenever I see you write something, it never disappoints. You’re one of the best writers on here. I’d love to see what you have to say about Greenaway, he’s just one of the most assured directors ever and I think you’d certainly do him justice.
Great write up on The Belly of an Architect @Zane, this film is fantastic.
“This guy who is trying to sexually harass Webb dies and a bunch of reporters get around the body like La Dolce Vita”
He doesn’t actually die, it was a staged performance and Krakite talks to him in the bathroom at around 21 minutes where another Italian comments:
“an exhibition like this in Rome about an obscure French architect organized by an American architect needs all the publicity it can get.
Based on this page I am interested in viewing The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989) but have not been able to find a place to watch it.
Any suggestions?
Ugh I just had to scroll all across that massive wall of text I posted last night. Sorry for anyone on here.
It is free on Peacock TV if you’re willing to sit through ads. Such a shame it’s not on Amazon Prime at the moment.
Aside from that, you could commit a little… skullduggery, so to speak, to see it.
@Zane- Do not apologize for that– I appreciate what you put together and I’m sure others do. They make for great additions to the pages. Please make sure you’ve saved that somewhere else though of course – I’d hate to lose it when I update the pages or I goof something up.
@James Trapp- I do think Greenaway’s masterpiece circulates the streaming/premium options– certainly more than it used to- trying to find this film 15-20 years ago was extremely difficult.
Greenaway is the most underrated director of all time. I’m glad to see @Drake and others on this site give him proper credit. His rankings on the recent TSPDT updates have been #238, unranked, and #247. That’s ridiculous.
I’m not quite sure what to say about the following rankings:
A Zed & Two Noughts – #3,824
The Belly of an Architect – #9,488
Drowning by Numbers – #2,764
The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover – #786
@Ian- Always nice to hear from a fellow Greenaway admirer. I believe Drowning by Numbers is getting a 4K update and hopefully becomes more widely available
@Drake- Awesome to hear. I didn’t know it was getting a 4K release. It looks like the release date was May 30th, 2023. Have you had the opportunity to revisit the film yet?
@Ian- I have not yet, I’ve waited this long already – so we’ll see if MUBI or Criterion streaming can pick it up here soon.
@Ian- I have not yet, I’ve waited this long already – so we’ll see if MUBI or Criterion streaming can pick it up here soon.
@Drake – The 4K of Drowning By Numbers looks outstanding. I thought it was an immense upgrade over the Blu-ray. Here’s hoping we get a 4K of The Belly of an Architect next.
My ranking of Greenaway` films that I`ve seen:
1. The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover MP
2. A Zed & Two Noughts MP
3. The Belly of an Architect MP
4. Drowning by Numbers MP
5. The Draughtsman`s Contract HR/MS
Surprisingly, the best director of 1980s
@RujK- Keeping my fingers crossed for a Drowning by Numbers release on MUBI or Criterion or something soon
@RujK – How would you rank the performances in his films?
@Alt Mash
1. Gambon- The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover
2. Mirren- The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover
3. Dennehy- The Belly of an Architect
(a big gap)
4. Plowright- Drowning by Numbers
5. Higgins- The Draughtsman`s Contract
Supposedly John Gielgud and Mark Rylance are great in Prospero`s Books, but I haven`t seen it.
@RujK – I have had trouble finding his films, just curious as to where you caught them?
Just go to limetorrents, and in the search type for example: The Cook the Thief His Wife Her Lover rarbg
The best ones are the x265 ones
@James Trapp- I am a bit ashamed, but with rare films like this, torrents are the best option.
So, what @Dylan said.