The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover
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VHS Movie Reviews of The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover
Movie Review: A masterpiece - 5.5 stars! Why do we let bullies
Summary: 5 Stars
A masterpiece - 5.5 stars! Why do we let bullies "cannibalize" us physically, emotionally, economically or politically?
MY STANDARDIZED MOVIE REVIEW RUBRIC (03/20/06 VERSION)
I. CONTENT (OUT OF 3 POSSIBLE STARS PLUS BONUS): 3.5
A. PHILOSOPHICAL/PSYCHOLOGICAL DEPTH --- LEVEL OF THOUGHTFULNESS OF THE MOVIE; PHILOSOPHICAL/PSYCHOLOGICAL SOPHISTICATION, CLARITY, IMPORTANCE AND IMPLICATION; 0 STARS: "LOW-BROW MOVIE"; 1 STAR: "MIDDLE BROW MOVIE"; 2 STARS: "HIGH-BROW MOVIE" --- (OUT OF 2 POSSIBLE STARS): 2.0
COMMENTS: The movie is so deep that no wonder it can be interpreted on so many levels. I could perceive it both as a political satire and as a social satire. For example some of the most influenced politicians in Washington (you know whom I mean) never read a book, or even a newspaper, yet manage to bully the world, engage in shadowy deals with lobbyists and rob our children by running extraordinary deficits.
On more literal level, women often endure severe abuses from their husbands for years without running away. Why? Perhaps for economic security, perhaps because they are afraid of their husband, perhaps for both. Why do men abuse women ? Perhaps they are afraid (for good reason) their wife will not be faithful unless she's is too physically and psychologically incapacitated ,after the beating, to commit adultery.
On yet a different level our society seems to tolerate dutifully rich and powerful "cannibals". For example we'll let our boss to slowly cannibalize us for years without speaking out or quitting. Or how about letting our "friends" or relatives humiliate us?
So why do bullies bully ? In their eyes that's just the nature thing. Stronger eats the weak. Big fish eats the small fish. Powerful survives, weak perishes. Humiliating is like hunting for prey - emotional prey. Sucking someone's emotional juices is like sucking the savory juices of the roasted pork's meat.
But the bully has to be careful because when the prey's self-defense mechanisms kick in, he might be the prey's prey. And when he's asked, in this movie, to literally eat the flesh of his victims, not just emotionally cannibalize them, he's too hypocritical to do it.
B. ORIGINALITY --- LEVEL THE MOVIE IS NON-FORMULAIC, NON-CLICH? WITH ORIGINAL ENDING & SCREENPLAY --- (OUT OF 1 POSSIBLE STAR): 1.0
COMMENTS: This film is a maverick. Spectacular ending.
* BONUS FOR DARING TO DEAL WITH
CONTROVERSIAL/UNPOPULAR/TOUCHY TOPICS (UP TO 0.5 ADDITIONAL STARS): 0.5
COMMENTS: Roasted human flesh is bad enough, roasted human (...) have got to steer controversies.
II. PRODUCTION (OUT OF 2 POSSIBLE STARS PLUS BONUS): 2.0
C. ACTORS' PERFORMANCE --- LEVEL TO WHICH ACTORS GET INSIDE THEIR CHARACTER AND CREATE EFFECTIVE PLAY --- (OUT OF 1 POSSIBLE STARS): 1.0
COMMENTS: An extraordinarily powerful play. Especially by the thief and his wife.
D. TECHNICAL QUALITY --- LEVEL OF EFFECTIVENESS OF AUDIO/VISUALS; APPROPRIATE LENGTH OF THE MOVIE ETC... --- (OUT OF 1 POSSIBLE STARS): 1.0
COMMENTS: A masterpiece! Great alternation of colors. Very effective sound and music.
*BONUS FOR DARING TO CREATE A MOVIE ON A LOW BUDGET (0.5 ADDITIONAL STARS FOR MOVIES UNDER HALF MILLION DOLLARS, 0.25 ADDITIONAL STARS FOR MOVIES UNDER ONE MILLION DOLLARS)
TOTAL STAR RATING: 5.5
MY BALANCED MPAA RATING (NOT BIASED IN FAVOR OF VIOLENCE AND AGAINST SEXUALITY) - G: NO VIOLENCE, NO SEXUALITY; PG: OK SLIGHT VIOLENCE, OK SLIGHT SEXUALITY; PG-13: OK MODERATE VIOLENCE, OK MODERATE SEXUALITY; R: OK EXPLICIT VIOLENCE, OK EXPLICIT SEXUALITY; NC-17 OK EXTREME VIOLENCE; OK EXTREME SEXUALITY - :
NC-17 (NC-17 for extreme violence, R for explicit sexuality (if you count roasted (...) as explicitly sexual, otherwise PG-13 for moderate sexuality))
Movie Review: art
Summary: 5 Stars
Without a doubt, the most visually brilliant movie ever made. It's like a two hour painting. The music (Michael Nyman) only adds to the effect. Yes, a weird story, but I could watch the thing with the volume muted and still be dazzled. Movie Review: A transcendental synthesis of the decadent
Summary: 5 Stars
**some spoilers**
Greenaway's astonishing masterpiece is packed so full of sumptuously profound imagery and metaphor that it can be enjoyed on several levels. Just go with the flow and enjoy this grotesquely compelling tale of sadism, decadence, illicit love, and jaw-droppingly gruesome retribution, or feel free to explore Greenaway's deeper intentions in giving us such cleverly colour-coded debauchery and stunning juxtaposition.
The hideous Spica (Gambon) - an unholy cross between a Falstaffian trencherman and a vicious gangland thug, wields absolute power in the crimson opulence of the dining area. Like some sacrilegious parody of Christ's last supper, Spica sits centre-table surrounded by a host of well-loved British characters. Look! Isn't that Trigger from Only Fools and Horses (Roger Lloyd-Pack) and there's grandma Royle (Liz Park). Even the late great Ian Dury is in there trying to do wicked things with his rhythm stick and Gary Olsen, sadly lamented by his 2.4 children. But oh boy, is that /really/ (Dame!) Helen Mirren doing all those naughty things virtually under her abusive husband's nose?
Leaving the blood-red velvet of the dining room, we are swept to the pristine white, almost paradisiacal appearance of the lavatories. Here, the earthiest and most explicit sex acts take place between the furtive lovers (Mirren and Alan Howard), reminding us of one of Spica's diatribes, when he comments on the proximity of the organs of defecation and reproduction. A brutal flash of crimson intrudes upon the white, when Spica bursts in. Seeking refuge elsewhere, the lovers enjoy moments of passion in rooms surrounding the astonishing kitchen, making love amongst hanging game birds and pigs' heads, whilst the albino choir-boy's innocently beautiful voice soars above all. When forced to flee, still naked, the lovers take refuge in a truck full of rotting meat and fish, in a scene strangely reminiscent of the work of Hieronymus Bosch . Freud would have a field day!
As the atmosphere of menace builds, the inevitability of the lovers' exposure becomes apparent. Spica's revenge is utterly horrific, in one of the most unsettling torture scenes I have ever witnessed. But in a cautionary tale such as this, how will the villain get his just "desserts"?
Well, no more spoilers. Just watch it and see. We can probably all guess what's going to happen, but the denouement, when it comes, is still satisfyingly hideous. This is a delicacy, and you know where it's been! The crimson curtain finally drops after almost 2 hours have simply flown past, and you can finally breathe out, mouthing the word "wow!"
Nyman's stunning score (partly reprised from Greenaway's earlier "A Zed and Two Noughts") complements the film perfectly and will be stuck in hour head for days afterwards.
Sadly, no extras on the DVD and, with no 5.1 sound, this appears to be a straight port-over from VHS. The sheer magnificence of this movie, though, almost every scene from which could be hung in the Tate, precludes me from giving anything less than five stars. An essential purchase.
Movie Review: about the title..the cook, the thief, his wife and her lover....
Summary: 4 Stars
Welcome to the world of barbaric style of movie which the story is basically about how a handsome looking man keep finding woman to have sexual relationship in the kitchen hiding behind curtains (behind the room which held big feast occasions) whom he later have sexual relationship with one of the tyrant's wife where he later found out the problem and get him killed. He is asked to use a folk and a knife to cut his flesh and eat which he was later shot to dead. What I can say is that this is the best kitchen around the world that can cater differnt activities inside. No longer why our kitchen are getting smaller these modern days due to things been exposed. Hmm...a second thought..
Movie Review: A film school classic.
Summary: 4 Stars
Much like Stanley Kubricks' Eyes Wide Shut, this is a disturbingly different style of cinema photography.
First, the exterior and interior of a large, massively stylish restaurant is stretched across a huge Hollywood soundstage as if a Broadplay ran continuously from one theater to another for several city blocks. Second, many of the camera shots are long takes as the characters move from one area to another. This is only part of the reality style: the camera never looks away. As the accident happens, the rubber-neckers (viewers) are right there, watching the entire scene unfold. Third, the sumptuous of the individual costumes and stages pieces is in stark contrast to the bare openness of the set. Then there is the raw offensive brutality of a way too successful gangster (Gambon) tyrannizing his wife and crew. Plus, there is the titillating full frontal, never look away, nudity of both the voluptuous Helen Mirren and her male lead, who have several scenes in which they never put on clothes and yet remain exposed, vulnerable, in rooms in the restaurant and their hiding place. Set, dialogue, color, violence, nudity are used in ways that film rarely does.
This work exposes the dangerous volcanic emotions running underneath all of ourselves, and our clothes.