8½ Women
Directed by:
Peter GreenawayScreenplay:
Peter GreenawayCast:
Vivian Wu, Toni Collette, Amanda Plummer, Polly Walker, Elizabeth Berrington, Peter Greenaway, Barbara Sarafian, Jules Werner, Natacha Amal, John Standing (more)Plots(1)
Directed by Peter Greenaway (The Pillow Book; The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover), the dark side of ecstasy unfolds against the backdrop of Japan's frenzied pachinko parlors and the Swiss countryside. After the death of his wife, a wealthy businessman questions his devotion to his passive spouse and denial of sensual experimentation for their many years of marriage. When his son returns to the family's Swiss chateau from Japan where he manages his father's pachinko parlors, he brings his father to see Federico Fellini's masterpiece, 8 1/2. The sight of so many magnificent women inspires them to turn their Swiss mansion into a chateau of sexual pleasure. But soon their wild sexual fantasies begin to unravel, and the two men discover that when fantasy becomes reality, the balance of power can shift. When it does, those seemingly in control don't always come out on top. (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Reviews (1)
Greenaway's film is one of those rare cases when, despite my undeniable stinginess, I would be willing to leave the movie theater after half an hour and forget the money because I saved a bit of my increasingly scarce time. The question is: is it possible to make a film that is supposed to deal with the dark sides of the human soul, sexuality, and the lives of wealthy people unrestricted by social conventions in an unbelievably boring way? Yes. Greenaway proves that with a little effort, it can be done. If I were a producer, I would rather burn the money in the fireplace than invest it in a similar spectacle. It is an immensely self-centered and difficult-to-digest film, primarily intended for the festival circuit audience, for the small circle of true intellectuals, and a considerably larger circle of those who think they are intellectuals so that they can eagerly debate the hidden meanings of the film after seeing it. At the beginning, one character asks another: "Do you think leading directors make their films to satisfy their sexual fantasies?" - the other replies: "I think most of them do." If Greenaway made this film to satisfy his sexual fantasies, then he is a very boring and eccentric patron. This film is neither provocative nor spicy, and in no way is it true to life, because I have encountered a fair number of bizarre characters, sociopaths, and nutcases, but I have never come across anything remotely similar to these film characters. Overall impression: 5%.
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