Rating: 
Summary: More than a few scenes are too much to take
Review: I'm not squeamish or prudish by any means, but more than a few scenes in this movie forced me to turn away. If 'shock' is art, than this is artful. It's a movie that pushes your nose in it and forces you to deal with your feelings. My feelings were 1) revulsion 2) pity 3) titillation.
Rating: 
Summary: A plotless plodder
Review: While this film contained interesting images, I found the plot to be excruciatingly boring. The tension developed in the story was unwavering and monolithic. I don't mind a tense story, but this tension never made sense to me. Why bother to create such a monstrous world and then do nothing with it?
I wouldn't mind the nausea if there was some point to it.
Perhaps a cinematographers union has descended upon the ratings for this movie.
I think this one is for visual artists/designers only, and those who want to be shocked.
I may have missed the point of the movie by not recognizing the true story, as conveyed in a secret code of costume changes and clattering pots.
Rating: 
Summary: Sumptuous metaphor and symbolism, bon appetit!
Review: This is a complicated film about some uncomplicated characters. Some say this film is pretentious. It would be pretentious if it failed. This film does not fail. This is because Peter Greenaway understands his subject intimately. This is a film filled with symbolism. If you do not like the word symbolism do not even try to watch this film. The violence is horrific. When is violence not horrific? If you expect your film violence to be cartoonish, then you need to look for a different film to watch. The humiliation is mortifying. Again if you think humiliation is the mild stuff of puerile high school comedy films, then you need to look for a different film to watch. This is a Grimm's fairy tale for adults. The ogre/thief is a true monster. Do you recognize him? Some say he represents Thatcher's England. I do not think that is important, but it is an interesting thought. The brave, or is it foolhardy, lover is obviously the foil. He is mostly a plot device and represents the intellect in the face of willful ignorance and brute strength. The wife is the protagonist, and it is painful to watch her go through her humiliations. The wife represents all of humanity and the tortures it endures at the hands of those who will not be civilized. The dogs of culture. Helen Mirren brings a deep humanity and reality to her pain. The cook is the voyeur, the witness, the helpful stranger, and us. We are invited into this world through the keyhole in a somewhat Hitchcockian manner to witness a world that exists all around us. This world is presented in an "in your face" manner. No punches are pulled as the filmmaker drives home his points. "Short, sharp, shock treatment", Spica, the thief, tells us at one point in the film, just after he assaults one of the patrons in the lavatory. This is a message to the audience. The Spicas of the world do not care for your education, your culture or your fine foods. They only care for their own greed and instant gratification and they will go to any means necessary to obtain their ends. To me Peter Greenaway is saying that you stand warned. The sets are beautiful. They are extremely detailed and color balanced. They look very like the old master paintings that Greenaway, it is said, admires. There is a painting that hangs behind the dinner table in the restaurant that looks similar to a Hals group portrait painting. It is of several men of means looking over the proceedings at the dinner table. Do they approve? They are dressed in similar garb to the gangsters. Piles of foods are everywhere and are obviously nods to the countless Dutch still lives of the past. The costumes are beautiful too and the colors of them change to fit the particular setting. The gangsters are dressed like pirates. The wife is always fashionable, even when she is hiding her bruises. The lover is dressed sensibly drab and dry, but his wit is deliciously pointed. The cook is dressed appropriately as a chef. This film takes place mainly in four settings: the parking lot, the kitchen, the dining room, and the library. Almost all of the atrocities occur in the parking lot, but a few of them overflow into the other sets. The dining room is what occurs in public. The kitchen represents the privacy of the home. The parking lot is the wilderness. And the library is the mind. There are a couple of secondary characters that need mentioning. There are always dogs in the parking lot. Lots of dogs. The symbolism is obvious. One scene in particular stands out. There is a truck of rotting seafood and meat that is creating a smell so offensive that the people who are sent to clean it up are wearing gas masks and quarantine suits to protect them. All of the extras are going to great pains to show their displeasure with the smell. The dogs do not mind the smell and Spica and his men do not even notice the putrid odor as they walk right by the truck with the rotting meat. The other character is the boy dishwasher with the beautiful soprano voice who continuously sings about washing and cleaning. This character represents all that is innocent and untouched, juxtaposed in stark contrast to the filthiness of the gangsters and their despicable actions. To sum up, this is a deep and compelling film full of symbolism and metaphor. It is a delicious treat to be savored and contemplated. After reading this I am sure you will know if this is your kind of film or not. If it is and it is your first time, I envy you. Bon appetit! That's French you know. "It's supposed to be a French restaurant, isn't it?"
Rating: 
Summary: DON'T BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOU READ
Review: Ok, what are all these reviewers talking about? This movie was not all that shocking and you don't need a strong stomach to watch it. There is one nasty scene with Tim Roth stuffing pages of a book down the lovers throat, but that's it!!! The rest of the so called violence is actually comical. One lady gets a fork stuck in her cheek when she tells the husband that his wife is cheating on him, and you can't help laughing. A guy at the beginning gets roughed up a little and gets peed on, hysterical! Also, the nudity and the sex scenes are not that explicit. Don't buy this or not buy this movie based on all that jazz. This movie should be seen just for the cinematogrophy and the acting. Everyone in this film was excellent and the way the director presents each location of each scene is awesome. I'll give you an example. The dinning room of the resturant is where most of the film takes place and I guess is where the dark underlining of the atmosphere is the most visual. So to make it seem just that way, the director shows everyone and everything with a red overture. The ladies room is the wife's getaway from her abusive husband and is bright white. It is also where(at first)she goes to meet up with her lover. Get it? The dinning room is her hell and the ladies room is her heaven. Brilliant. Just to make sure the audience understands this, the director throws it in your face. When you first see the resturant, you see the wife wearing what seems to be a dark red dress in the dinning room. Then she retreats to the ladies room. As she walks through the door of the restroom the dress turns from dark red to bright white. I still don't know what color the dress actually was. There are so many undertones in this film that you really have to sit and watch it to understand them all. Quick note-Ever since I have been surfing through movies on amazon and e-bay, I have come to realize there are a lot of great movies out there that are not mainstream and although they are little known films, they sometimes are better than the major motion pictures. So expand your horizons and give these films a shot, you will be pleasantly surprised. This is one of those films, and it is an all around great movie. Oh, it lost one star only because the accents are really thick and sometimes difficult to understand. Like I said, you really have to sit and watch this or you will miss a lot.
Rating: 
Summary: a disturbing, yet intriguing movie.
Review: Watching this movie was quite an experience! Micheal Gambon's
character is probably the most evil character I've seen in any
movie! What his character does to other people in the movie is
quite frightening, especially after he founds out his wife has
been cheating on him. I found several scenes very hard to sit
through, especially the scene where he kills his wife's lover.
This certainly is a hard movie to shake off; it stays with you,
whether you want it to or not! The last scene really makes the
movie! Helen Mirren is very sexy in this film. If I realized
what a gorgeous body she had, I would've asked her out one a date
years ago!
I watched the R-rated version before I watched the NC-17 one
and I'm amazed at how much they cut out and WHAT they cut out,
which was alot of the full frontal nudity scenes! Interesting
that they kept all the violent scenes in it!
Anyhow, I recommend the film, but only to those people who have
very strong stomachs!!
Rating:
Summary: excellent
Review: This is an excellent film. High quality acting, brilliant story, beautiful music, excellent camera work. The film (in my opinion at least) has a dark, sinster comic edge. I recommend this highly for people looking to expand their horzions in their film viewing.
Rating:
Summary: Wash Me. . .
Review: This is one of the finest pieces of cinema that I have ever experienced. I originally saw this film during its first theatrical release and was amazed at how many people were offended by it. It is indeed true that not all of the events portrayed in the film are nice or pretty, but neither are they gratuitous. The characters are sharply and intelligently drawn and the cinematography is nothing short of virtuoso (indoor cinematography is a much greater challenge than the outdoor variety). Any film buff will want this film for the visuals alone. I would like to go on about the plot. But if you have not seen this film yet, taking that journey with Peter Greenaway and the stellar cast is something to be experienced with as little information as possible. Truly a delight. Note: the NC-17 rating, I believe, is excessive. I have seen far more graphic images in R-rated Dead Teenager movies. The difference, though, is that this is actually believable, in an art film sort of way. If you like your entertainment intelligent and challenging, you will not be disappointed. Get this. P.S. Once you've seen the film, you will understand the title of this review. And that part of the movie is an absolute hoot!
Rating:
Summary: This moive sticks with you a long time
Review: I first saw this movie when it came out on the "big screen" and was so impressed I spent the next couple of years looking for it on video. I finally found it second hand last year and am so happy that it has been released on DVD. Where the VHS format is scratchy and has lackluster color's the DVD's digital format is perfect to convey the color tones and contrasts that this movie deliver's. For instance the way Georgina's dress changes colors to match the color changes in the dining room vs. the bathroom in the early beginning are missed by a lot of people but, shown brilliantly on the DVD. Buy this movie, show it to some friends and you'll have weeks of interesting conversation there after, a definite must have for the movie buff.
Rating:
Summary: A Literally Sickening Movie
Review: I love art films. I saw this movie in a theater in Portland, Oregon when it was originally released. I sat through about half of it. I had to leave because I felt like I was literally going to vomit. I tend to have a weak stomach to begin with but this movie totally repulsed and depressed me. It was a nightmare that seems to have originated out of the pit of Hell. Do I have a stong opinion about this movie?
Rating:
Summary: Marvellous, Shocking, Beautiful, Dire
Review: This exists in my top ten films that have inspired my life. Certainly also belongs in my top ten films ever made. Greenaway is trained as a painter, and you can certainly tell. His use of color and composition of shots and scenes. The actors are amazing as well, and you see the wrenching that occurs as they pull marvelous, deep performances out of boxed in character types (note the title). I should also mention that my wife HATES this film, for being so beautiful and gut wrenchingly horrible at the same time. It is not for the squemish.
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