Hottoceame The Age of Commercialism

Fatma Suarez The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Dana An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Hertsmere This is a baffling film. The beauty in sexual relations between men and women is shown degraded by a set of men and women who can only be described as a collection of oddballs and misfits.Greenaway acknowledges his inspiration to Fellini's film "8 1/2" but whereas Fellini is a titan of world cinema, Greenaway is not.He has none of the maestro's lightness of touch nor his ability to convey feelings and emotions with a deftness of clarity.He is pretentious, the film being divided into chapters with a written introduction to each, as if the viewer has to be guided into the film except that the written notices only stay on screen for a few seconds, not long enough to be read by the audience with the result that they are mostly ignored.As for the women, only two can be described as lookers, Palmira, played by Polly Walker and Giaconda played by Natacha Amal. The rest ooze with ordinariness. Both the women and the men retreat from the harsh light of reality into the dim shades of fantasy.Greenaway obviously wants to make the point that sexual fantasy does not lead to happiness. The women themselves are depressing since they render their services in exchange for money. Relations between men and women are debased into a commercial transaction.There is no sense of joy or happiness or love in the film, indeed there are several scenes that are deeply unpleasant :The suggestion of an incestuous relationship between father and son, Philip and Storey Emmental played respectively by John Standing and Matthew Delamere. The callous disregard of both men that Giaconda is carrying their child, she in fact, gets pregnant twice, the first foetus being aborted and the second time, she is sent away to a destination chosen by the men from a flight book. Both men having sex with a woman who has no legs, (the half woman in the title). The beastiality that exists between Beryl, played by Amanda Plummer, with a pig named Hortense. Father and son sharing women between them. Women enjoying being beaten sexually. The father sleeping with the corpse of his dead wife.Mercifully, none of these scenes are shown sexually, only hinted at.The hinted degradation of women is such that there cannot be any wonder that the film was booed at when it was first premiered at Cannes. What is more extraordinary is that the actresses in the film lined up to defend it, showing yet again that there is no limit to the naivety of women and that women will fool themselves into being exploited by men.Greenaway's directorial style is pretentious, it is a triumph of style over substance, a depiction of Film as Art accompanied by the abandonment of common sense.Greenaway tries to attain the sublimity of surrealism but only succeeds in showing the banality of human relationships.

kenjha To overcome the death of his wife, an old man does what anyone in his position would naturally do (at least in a Peter Greenaway movie): he and his son populate their home with eight and a half (one has no legs) women and embark on a sexual odyssey. This being a Greenaway film, there is lots of pretentious and uninteresting blabbering and of course there is unnecessary male nudity. In fact the father and son share a bed sleeping in the nude. Gross. Besides, who wants to see an old guy full frontal? For those who are not into the homo-erotic scene, one of the women likes to do the nasty with horses. There is no story - just a random collection of dull scenes.

somanluna I always expect Peter Greenaway's films to push the envelope cinematically and in terms of sexuality. I've looked forward to seeing this movie for a long time, especially since it was a homage to Fellini's 8 1/2, but I was very disappointed. Although there were brief moments of captivating imagery and witty dialogue the story was uncompelling and perverse. It's wonderful to push the envelope as he has in previous films but this was too far. The characters were unbelievable and their actions without real motivation. In previous Greenaway films the characters were well-drawn, actions motivated and the images were both innovative and exciting. I hope this movie is not a sign of things to come.

KEITH ANDREWS To borrow from Dorothy Parker: This is not a film to be tossed asidelightly. It should be thrown with great force.This is an excruciating mess. And I'm a Greenaway fan.MIND-NUMBINGLY AWFUL"The Mummy Returns" has much more artistic merit