Lovesusti The Worst Film Ever

Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Lollivan It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Marva It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Neil Welch A monstrously cruel and violent gangster discovers his wife has been unfaithful at the restaurant where they eat every night: he takes his revenge. She, in turn, plots revenge on him.That synopsis is deeply misleading: it gives the principal story beats, but conveys nothing of the subtlety of this very disturbing film from Peter Greenaway, a filmmaker of unique sensibilities. On the surface of it this is a simple story of betrayal and revenge. Yet it operates on several levels, and features stunning acting (especially from Helen Mirren and Michael Gambon), music, direction, and colour management. And it is impossible to convey just how beautiful and revolting it is, often at the same time.I highly recommend this, but only if you have a very strong stomach.

Daniel Katsoras Wow. I had never heard of Mr. Greenaway before coming across this film so i didn't know what to expect. It definitely was not this. Even after seeing Salo, or The 120 day of Sodom, I never would have imagined such a sinister and forbiddingly vehement film can be so strikingly alluring in a figurative and theatrical sense. The set design, colour aspects and cinematography where like thrusting into a Kubrick-ian alternate universe. Michael Gambon's portrayal of the heinous Albert was so trembling to watch but his every action was such a captivating experience. I also loved the subtle but ever so intriguing, young Tim Roth as Mitchel. He was dubiously sound, revolting in a reluctant scheme to over shadow Gambon's character theatrically. Michael Nyman's score was like the desert we didn't deserve; the ever so needed dash of spices that adds that perfect touch from begging to end. It saddens me that a film like this will never rise to prominence because there are very few individuals who are on the same wavelength as Peter Greenaway. Hollywood, or this planet rather, is deprived of more minds like Greenaway. I now look forward to divulging into his universe of films.

videorama-759-859391 There are people out there, who absolutely hate this film. I can run down a few names. I liked it when I was 20. At the end of it, I had to sit down for a half and an hour, getting over what I had just seen in the shocking finale of it, in it's near 2 hrs running time. Some people out there, just won't appreciate the film, as if it takes an acquired taste to like it. Gambon, in an unlike Gambon performance, which I still consider this to be his best work, plays one of the scariest mobsters in film, apart from Pesci in Goodfellas that same year. Oh bring on the nineties. Gambon owns this expensive, lavish restaurant. Just check out the loud sets and costumes. The dishes of food are too little, and aren't to everything's taste, although you haven't seen the final dish, a distasteful offering. Gambon just revels in this ugly character, going all out with it. He's a thug, bully, oaf, has no respect for woman, or mercy, when it comes to people owing debts. By example at the start, in an exterior shot, just outside the restaurant, one poor sod is being basted in faeces, left to wash himself down, amidst barking dogs loitering around him. We then pull away, pan across into the kitchen, some cooks shirtless, and they we come into the extravagant dining area. Gambon's wife, Georgina, played by the great Helen Mirren, back in the day, when she was much less known, is the butt of Gambon's abuse, physical and verbal. Gambon too, hates the fact that she smokes. Throughout the night, she keeps looking off, attracted to this average looking guy, loner, sitting afar, who likes to bring a few books to his dine ins. Gambon points out a harsh truth, when striking up a quick conversation with the stranger about lonely diners and their books. Soon this guy and Mirren are having a sexual affair, trotting off to the loos, every five minutes, and where ever they can do it, in secrecy, and when hubby finds out, he sees red. And in the finale, as concerning the last course, what goes around, really goes around. Watch out too for the fool of Gambon's gang, the fine Tim (pre Mr Orange) Roth as Mitchell, who likes to push Gambon. Judge for yourself, this film, especially lovers of visual cinema. It's up to you to have the final vote.

Leofwine_draca I have a problem with art-house films like THE COOK, THE THIEF, HIS WIFE & HER LOVER and it's that the directors of such fare are often totally ignorant when it comes to decent film-making. Sure, they obsess over designer costumes and make-up, and they focus intently on the colour palette of their movies, but when it comes to movie-making staples like pace, character, dialogue, and intrigue, they fail.Peter Greenaway is such a director. This controversial 1989 opus is known for its gruesome scenes of cannibalism, yet take away the controversy and there's absolutely nothing here to rate this. The running time is as slow as a snail, and much of it is made up of scenes of the repulsive Michael Gambon character berating his wife and associates.Greenaway's a better director than he is a writer, because the script is terrible. We get the gist of Gambon's character and the situation with his wife in the first ten minutes, yet two hours of non-action go by in which we're bludgeoned over the head with his sheer monotonous brutish nature. The whole film takes place on a cheap-looking set that quickly becomes boring, Helen Mirren spends most of the running time naked and forgets how to act, and luminaries such as Tim Roth and Ciaran Hinds are wasted.Yes, there are a few shocking scenes, yet cannibalism is dealt with in a much more entertaining fashion in both B-movie fare (such as Pete Walker's 1974 FRIGHTMARE) and Hollywood flicks (like RAVENOUS). I'm not against arty films where nothing happens, but there has to be substance to go with the style; Nic Roeg's DON'T LOOK NOW is a case in point: one of my favourite films of all time, but hardly action-packed. THE COOK... just wastes a great deal of potential and proves to be another case of The Emperor's New Clothes.