«The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover»: The Athens International Film Festival screens Peter Greenaway's shock masterpiece uncut
It was considered immoral, scandalous, shocking. In several countries it met with censorship problems and in America it was shown under the label "Strictly Inappropriate". Thirty-five years after its turbulent release, the ATHENS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL is screening Peter Greenaway's masterful film in its complete and uncut version for a one-time only screening on Saturday, March 30th , at CINOBO OPERA 1 cinema.
Even if you have seen Peter Greenaway's perhaps most famous creation only once, you still remember it for many reasons. One of them is the stunningly elegant work of Sacha Vierny, legendary director of photography for "Last Year in Marienbad," "Hiroshima, My Love" and "Belle de Jour" who here uniquely advocates Michael Nyman's evocative musical accompaniment, long before the composer became world famous through his scores in "The Piano".
Another is, certainly, the dazzling scenographic concept, which served the film as an ideal and infinitely beautiful counterpoint to the many uglinesses sarcastically listed in the film. Dressed in the post-modern costumes designed by Jean Paul Gauthier, the actors remain, of course, unforgettable, whether it was the multi-faceted Helen Mirren (Oscar-winner for “The Queen”), or the tyrannical and savage Michael Gambon (later Dumbledore in the “Harry Potter” film series), or the conspiratorial Richard Bohringer, silent regulator of everything in the foreground and background of the action.
If there is only one reason, however, why this film will be remembered forever, it is the gallery of extremes that the British director treated with black humour and even darker irony in a Shakespearean echo plot of sinful passions and primeval revenge that mockingly stood in the face of powerful cinematic taboos (such as cannibalism, defecation, the unapologetic depiction of sex and violence), breaking them down shot by shot. Visually dizzying, nonnegotiably provocative, perversely playful, Greenaway's top film is a desperate look at the human condition, disguised as a political allegory and a critique of the civilized world's myriad misdeeds. The result remains jaw-dropping.
The film will be screened uncut, in its complete and uncensored version of 124 minutes, in a digitally restored print.
SCREENING INFORMATION:
THE COOK, THE THIEF, HIS WIFE AND HER LOVER
Director: Peter Greenaway | Starring: Helen Mirren, Michael Gambon, Richard Bohringer, Tim Roth, Alan Howard | Duration: 124΄ | Year of production: 1989
Date: Saturday, March 30th 2024
Venue: CINOBO OPERA 1 | 57 Akadimias Str.
Starting Time: 22:30 midnight
Ticket: 7,00 €
To get your tickets on time visit:
https://www.more.com/cinema/the-cook-the-thief-his-wife-and-her-lover/