Review of The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989) by Jesse B — 08 Jun 2011
Can you remember a few years back, to the Pixar film Ratatouille? Do you remember the food in the film, how it was so incredibly inviting? Made you want to reach into the screen and dip your finger into the batter. The food in that film gave you a warm fuzzy feeling inside -- not the moldy fuzz which develops in the back of our poorly maintained refrigerators. I'm talking about the feeling you get when you are presented with food that pleases more than simply the carnal desire to heap spoon after spoon of tasteless garbage into your mouth. Well before Ratatouille, there was a film called The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover -- and this movie takes a completely different view of the various uses of food.
For one: food is not for eating. It is for assaulting the person next to you. Never has food and violence been so inextricably linked as in this film.
Perhaps I should back up a moment and let you in on what the film is about.
All of the major characters are mentioned in the title of the film. The cook is not really a cook, rather a chef (there is a difference to all of those uncultured sorts out there -- not that I know anyone who fits that bill). He is charged with running a restaurant which is owned by the thief played to operatic, villainous perfection by Michael Gambon. Again, Gambon is more of a mob type, and not the typical image of what someone conjures when the word "thief" is thrown around. Thirdly is the wife (Helen Mirren), who is, of course the wife of the thief. Finally we have her lover, a patron of the restaurant whom she meets therein.
The thief is a cruel man. During the films introduction, we see the him harassing a man which seems to have either owed the thief something, or had done some wrong to him in the thief's mind. After stripping the man naked, the thief and his hoods take the feces of a dog and smear it all about the man's chassis and face (even to the point of force feeding him the muck). If this weren't enough already, the thief throws the man to the ground and kicks him about a bit, just so as to make his point more clear.
After this event -- and for nearly the entirety of the rest of the film -- we enter into the restaurant. Here we meet the wife who is a strong woman inside held captive by the malevolent force of her husband.
This review of The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989) was written by Jesse B on 08 Jun 2011.
The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover has generally received very positive reviews.
Was this review helpful?
