The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover
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The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover

"Lust...Murder...Dessert. Bon Appetit!"

1989 2h 4m ★ 7.3 (694 votes) Released

When churlish mobster Albert Spica acquires an upscale French restaurant in London, he dines there nightly, effectively scaring off the clientele with his bad manners. His wife, Georgina, is especially disgusted by him, and soon begins an affair with regular guest Michael. Despite their best efforts to keep it secret, Spica learns about their trysts, and he plots a terrible revenge.

Director

Peter Greenaway

Screenplay

Peter Greenaway

Rating
7.3
Runtime
124 min
Budget
$2.3M
Revenue
$7.7M
Profit/Loss
+5.4M

Production

Allarts
Elsevier-Vendex Film Beheer
Allarts Cook
Erato Films
Film4 Productions Film4 Productions
Erbograph Co.

Top Billed Cast

Videos & Trailers

Gallery

Audience Reviews

T
talisencrw
★ 9/10 May 2, 2016

Having previously watched Greenaway's 'Prospero's Books', basically from the same era, one definitely gets a sense of the auteur, of great visualizing prowess in the Welsh native. I adore watching Helen Mirren from ANY era, but particularly here, in between the young adulthood beauty she displayed in Michael Powell's 'Age of Consent', through the remarkably absurd and audacious 'Caligula', straight to the sophisticated and very dangerous gorgeousness displayed in 'The Comfort of Strangers'. It's great to see any dude who's mean to a beautiful woman get their comeuppance (particularly the wealthy--it offers a sort of 'wish fulfillment' for the 99% of us), and the climax here is one of cinema's most articulate presentation of that phenomenon. It definitely made me wish to see the rest of both Greenaway's movies and of Mirren's performances. Well worth the acquired taste necessary for this sort of delicacy.

Keywords

sadismsexualityallegorycookingrestaurantcrime bosssatiresurrealismsociopathmurderbrutalityavant-gardepublic humiliationstray dogabusive husbandfrench cuisineadulterous wifecannibalismviolence

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