Review of The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989) by Connor G — 15 Feb 2014

The Lover, the Cook, The Wife, The Thief .

As seen immediately, in the film, The Cook, The Theif, The Wife & Her Lover takes great advantage of the use of color. The last film I can think of that uses color so overwhelmingly is Bergmans Cries and Whispers, where he drowns the audience with red. What I found stunning in this film was that the scenes were so beautiful while all taking place in-doors, in fact the only ugly scenes were the outdoor ones, which took barely any screen time. .

This film features on of the greatest pricks in cinema history, Albert. Played by Michael Gambon, who absolutely blew me away. Albert surrounds himself with his arrogant sidekicks, but compared to him they're a set of nuns. .

Peter Greenaway creates a true villain with Albert, one that no one can like or desire to imitate. Albert is a bully, rapist, and a misogynist, whose traits are greed & arrogance. Albert isn't just a smug rich man though, he definently has his deficiencies, which can be seen with his envy. There's a scene where Albert ruins one of his wives dishes as a practical joke, when he's done pouring wine on the expensive meal the camera cuts to showing the hard work of the chef and kitchen, which represents the destructive path Albert has. .

The greatest scene of the film is when the affair begins in the restroom, and Albert comes in. Standing outside the stall the intensity reaches an all time high. It's interesting that Albert behaves at his worst in restrooms after this. .

Greenaway has no taboos in this film, whether it's what's being discussed at the dinner table, which most people would never speak about... or what Albert does to others, which most people wouldn't even think about. Despite how disturbing this film is, there's solid black comedy, and even some light British humor. A moment that incoorporates the taboo and comedy elements is the gynecologist dinner table conversation. .

The films idol is the chef. He makes Albert wait, while giving a beaten poor man immediate attention. He's also the only character to bring smart philosophy to the table, unlike Albert who just spits gibberish. Before cooking his shock of a dish, the chef speaks about the most expensive food: "black food". He's a hard worker yet speaks as if he's been still as Rodins "The Thinker".

I fell in love with the cast: Bohringer, Hellen Miren, Tim Roth, Alan Howard, and Gambon all bring something unique to this movie. The whole cast comes together at the conclusion to bring the single greatest revenge scene, that even Tarantino (Kill Bill, Django Unchained) & Chan-Wook Park (Oldboy, Lady Vegenence) couldn't think of. Fascinating cinematic masterpiece. .