Friday, November 9, 2007

"The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover" (Post 2)

This film was made in 1989 and is probably Greenaway's most provocative and certainly his most disturbing. This is a good example of Greenaway's theatricality and his love for Flemish art. This film is shocking in many ways. It is rated NC-17 for its subject of cannibalism and it's depiction of excessive male and female nudity. Nonetheless, this film shows Greenaway's formal style of film making. His stories are all black comedies and deal very little with character development or exploration. Instead Greenaway finds an alternative to a straightforward narrative and bases his film, like this one, on a simple story of infidelity. This film is an artistic experience rather than a lesson in life. Greenaway reminds the audience that we are watching a film and nothing else. The movie opens with curtains and closes with curtains.

This is my favorite Greenaway film because each time I watch it, I'm excited and scared at the same time. The music in the film is used so brilliantly. Michael Nyman has always been one of my favorite composers. I think I like the obsessive ritual display of food, sex, and the taboo of cannibalism.
Posted by at
Labels:

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)