THE COOK, THE THIEF, HIS WIFE & HER LOVER

THE COOK, THE THIEF, HIS WIFE & HER LOVER, 1989

Netherlands, UK, France |DCP, Color, 124' |English, French, Flemish
Director:Peter Greenaway
Cast:Richard Bohringer, Michael Gambon, Helen Mirren

A black comedy between Albert, the owner of Le Hollandais restaurant, which is the film’s main setting; his wife Georgina who is disgusted by his constant humiliations and obnoxious behavior; and Richard the cook, who hates Albert as much as she does and turns a blind eye to this elegant but weary woman’s trysts with Michael, a regular at the restaurant. With his use of color and clever dialogue, Peter Greenaway presents us with a masterpiece which defines its characters in terms of how the corruption of the human soul is embodied in the most basic weaknesses and strengths of the human body. The themes in the story, such as eating and sex, are reflected in the colors of the rooms that make up the “body” of the film. The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover offers a symbolic commentary on the greed and dishonesty prevalent in modern times and the oppression of the weak by the strong.