Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover, The (1989)

Iconoclastic filmmaker Peter Greenaway outdoes himself with this darkly humorous Jacobean fairy tale of food, love, sex and death.

The film boasts breathtaking production design, Jean-Paul Gaultier’s garish costumes and Sacha Vierny’s artfully stunning camera work.

This violent and grimly comic work is not for everyone – the menu contains swearing, screwing, stealing, cooking, eating, drinking, burping, choking, vomiting, defecating, punching, kicking and killing – but those with a strong stomach will be amply rewarded by Greenaway’s most accessible film.

Michael Gambon is imperious and violent in a gloriously rich performance, whilst Helen Mirren (in a role which was initially intended for Vanessa Redgrave) is all calm courteousness and reserved acceptance until her resentment is inflamed.

The setting is a cavernous French restaurant, Le Hollandaise, where every night the chef prepares a lavish menu. The main room is dominated by a 1616 painting by Dutch artist Frans Hals, A Banquet of the Officers of the St George Civic Guard Company. 

Among the regular customers are Albert Spica (Gambon), a loudmouthed, boorish, violent London gangster, who dines with his entourage of seedy underlings and hoods, and his frustrated wife, Georgina (Mirren), mistakenly believing that eating at Le Hollandaise gives him class.

Georgina is attracted to a solitary book-reading diner in the restaurant, Michael (Alan Howard), and the two begin a secret affair under the nose of her violent husband during frequent trips to the lavatory.

With the help of the restaurant’s voyeuristic chef (Richard Bohringer), each night the lovers meet for a clandestine rendezvous in toilets and pantries without the knowledge of Albert – until their secret is eventually revealed.

Albert spirals into an angry rage over his wife’s infidelity and takes a typically violent revenge, triggering a more unusual retaliation from her with a unique last supper.

Albert Spica
Michael Gambon
Georgina Spica
Helen Mirren
Richard Boarst
Richard Bohringer
Michael
Alan Howard
Mitchel
Tim Roth
Cory
Ciaran Hinds
Spangler
Gary Olsen
Harris
Ewan Stewart
Turpin
Roger Ashton-Griffiths
Mews
Ron Cook
Grace
Liz Smith
Patricia
Emer Gillespie
Alice
Janet Henfrey
Eden
Arnie Breeveld
Troy
Tony Alleff
Pup
Paul Russell
Adele
Alex Kingston
Terry Fitch
Ian Dury

Director
Peter Greenaway