The cruel and sadistic crime boss Albert Spica (Michael Gambon) has dinner every night in his restaurant with his well-bred wife Georgina (Helen Mirren) and his gang. Albert is abusive towards his wife, his gangsters, the chef Richard Borst (Richard Boringer) and the restaurant employees, but Georgina finds an escape when she meets the gentle bookseller Michael (Alan Howard). Together, they begin a clandestine relationship between meals, but when they are exposed a series of horrifying, brutal, and barbaric actions occur as both sides seek revenge against the other.
Bizarre filmmaker Peter Greenaway directs a highly stylized and surreal story about adultery and jealousy that is just as shocking in its content as it is in its visual style. The film originally received an X rating for its overall content, but unlike most X-rated films, The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover has nothing in the way of sensationalized sex or violence. That doesn't mean that it is easy to sit through this film, but there is so much intensity in each scene that it is impossible to stop watching. Albert is undoubtedly one of the most despicable characters ever brought to the screen. Ignorant, and violent, it’s a rich performance by Gambon on any level. On the other hand, Helen Mirren is the perfect embodiment of the nouveau riche, elegant, polite, and nearly mute until her passion is aroused by the quiet Michael. Greenaway has said that the film was inspired by Jacobean revenge tragedies, but its themes and style suggest it is also indebted to allegories and morality plays (even when Georgina upsets it all in the end, leaving the audience to question if anyone here is in the right), and some have suggested it is even an allegory for Thatcherism. The film is something you must experience, but it's not for all tastes, especially not the squeamish.
Bizarre filmmaker Peter Greenaway directs a highly stylized and surreal story about adultery and jealousy that is just as shocking in its content as it is in its visual style. The film originally received an X rating for its overall content, but unlike most X-rated films, The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover has nothing in the way of sensationalized sex or violence. That doesn't mean that it is easy to sit through this film, but there is so much intensity in each scene that it is impossible to stop watching. Albert is undoubtedly one of the most despicable characters ever brought to the screen. Ignorant, and violent, it’s a rich performance by Gambon on any level. On the other hand, Helen Mirren is the perfect embodiment of the nouveau riche, elegant, polite, and nearly mute until her passion is aroused by the quiet Michael. Greenaway has said that the film was inspired by Jacobean revenge tragedies, but its themes and style suggest it is also indebted to allegories and morality plays (even when Georgina upsets it all in the end, leaving the audience to question if anyone here is in the right), and some have suggested it is even an allegory for Thatcherism. The film is something you must experience, but it's not for all tastes, especially not the squeamish.