The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover [R]

At Le Hollandais gourmet restaurant, every night is filled with decadence, lavishness, and gluttony. But everything in good taste is decimated as the restaurant serves as the venue where the oafish and horrid thief, Albert Spica, and his lackeys hold court. Ignored for too long and hateful of his crassness Albert’s wife, Georgina begins an affair right under Albert’s nose with a quiet, bookish, patron. At first Alfred is blind to this, too busy stuffing himself and humiliating his company, but it’s only a matter of time before he finds out and concocts a shocking revenge that will take away everyone’s appetite. 

Whilst films such as Chocolat or Babette’s Feast exhibit the wondrous magic of good food and decadent cooking, Peter Greenaway’s The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover explores its darker side. The decadence and lavishness that is pumped into this movie serves as the perfect ground for savagery, horror, and barbarism to flourish, making it the culinary equivalent of A Clockwork Orange in that all things considered upper class and high society become tainted and stained by the most awful of characters indulging in them. What Kubrick did to Beethoven and ballet, Greenaway has done to fine dining. 

At Le Hollandais gourmet restaurant, every night is filled with decadence, lavishness, and gluttony. But everything in good taste is decimated as the restaurant serves as the venue where the oafish and horrid thief, Albert Spica, and his lackeys hold court. Ignored for too long and hateful of his crassness Albert’s wife, Georgina begins an affair right under Albert’s nose with a quiet, bookish, patron. At first Alfred is blind to this, too busy stuffing himself and humiliating his company, but it’s only a matter of time before he finds out and concocts a shocking revenge that will take away everyone’s appetite. 

The film’s incredible power and ability to shake one’s vey innards, stems from the story, its setting, and the performances. Written as a riposte to Margaret Thatcher’s England and directed at the upper class, the film drips in utter decadence. It’s not just the fancy restaurant setting and the disgustingly over-the-top menu, but the costumes designed by Jean-Paul Gaultier and the soundtrack by Michael Nyman, that just highlight the terrible contrasts that this film exhibits. The society and class of people that eat at the restaurant and wear these incredible garments are all criminals and horrible people generally: vulgar, crass, violent, barbaric, and savage. 

The show undoubtedly belongs to Michael Gambon who stars as Albert Spica, the ‘thief’ of the film’s title. Michael delivers a most brilliant performance that makes one physically sick to their stomach every time his opens his mouth! His gruff cockney accent, his vulgar phrases and word choices, and his horrifying actions, not to mention his terrifying rants and rages, make him a character that you can’t wait to see die and you’re scared to death of him at the same time! 

Starring Helen Mirren, Richard Bohringer, Alan Howard, Tim Roth, Ciaran Hinds, Gary Olsen, Ewan Stewart, Roger Ashton-Griffiths, Ron Cook, Emer Gillespie, and Liz Smith, The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover is both a decadent and disturbing film filled with drama, crassness, sex, romance, violence, and much eating. It’s great in that it’s a film that’ll stay with you so you need never have to watch it again.