BELLY OF AN ARCHITECT, THE (director/writer: Peter Greenaway; cinematographer: Sacha Vierny; editor: John Wison; cast: Brian Dennehy (Stourley Kracklite), Chloe Webb (Louisa Kracklite), Lambert Wilson (Caspasian Speckler), Sergio Fantoni (Io Speckler), Vanni Corbellini (Frederico), Stefania Casini (Flavia Speckler), Stefano Gragnani (The Nose Man), 1987-UK)
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
A potbellied, 54-year-old noted architect from Chicago, Stourley Kracklite (Brian Dennehy), and his much younger wife, Louisa (Chloe Webb), come to Rome by train, where he makes his grand entrance by having sex with her as they arrive in Italy. He will be the director of an art exhibition that is being planned on the obscure 18th-century French architect Etienne-Louis Boullee.
The couple are feted with toasts and a sugar cake replica of one of Boullee's buildings by their hosts, the father of a family financing the exhibition -- and a brother and sister -- Flavia (Stefania Casini) and Caspasian (Lambert Wilson). Boullee has been the most influential architect in the life of Kracklite, and he has spent the last ten years preparing for this exhibition to honor him, while the Italians see this exhibit as a chance for them to gain world recognition and for that they need a prestigious American architect like Kracklite to sell the project to the art patrons.
During the course of his stay in Rome, Kracklite will be undergoing a series of psychological and physical mishaps. His stay will be for nine months, the time it takes for Louisa to give birth and for Kracklite to end his life, as he eventually finds out that he is dying from stomach cancer. At first, he will develop stomach problems and blame this on his wife, whom he thinks is trying to poison him. He will also become extremely jealous of the attention the serpentine, youthfully handsome, thin waist lined architect, Caspasian, is paying to his wife. He will eventually, after the couple is there for three months, push his wife into having an affair with Caspasian as he becomes impossible to live with, developing an obsession about his belly and his mortality. Caspasian will notice that she is pregnant before her husband does, a pregnancy which came about on the train coming into Rome. Her husband doesn't notice she is pregnant until she tells him, as he does not look at her stomach, being that he is so preoccupied with his.
Sacha Vierny, as cinematographer, supplies the film with striking visuals, every scene is beautiful to behold. The technicolors of favor for the film are the different shades of brown resembling the marvelous architecture in Rome and the pure shades of white, which tend to introduce the characters in their best light, before it becomes apparent that they are all obnoxious to a certain degree and not as pure as they first might have seemed.
Peter Greenaway (The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover/The Pillow Book/Prospero's Books) made use in this film of many diverse metaphorical themes: while giving us a lesson about architecture and deriding how money from patrons is what drives the arts. He also tells about Isaac Newton's influence to the world, about Augustus and his wife Livia who poisoned him, Kracklite's stomach problems, and the artist as an egotist. The hero of the story is in the middle of a mid-life crises, where it seems everything is rapidly going down the tubes for him. His feelings are wounded, his sufferings are gargantuan, and he is about to lose his wife and control of the exhibit to his architect rival Caspasian, and eventually he will tragically lose his life. He resembles Boullee, in that they are both known for producing few works and not finishing what they start, and that they were both hypochondriacs.
This film like all Greenaway productions, is a splendid visual film to behold. Brian Dennehy comes up with a big performance, towering over others even in his downfall. The most emotional scene, has him looking through a keyhole and watching his wife screw Caspasian. The film might not add up to much in weight, but the sum of its parts were like an apple hitting Newton on his noggin. It had one mesmorizing visual scene after another, and gave one enough fodder to think about all the spiritual and corporeal themes it just spread before your eyes without going further into them. Greenaway, as always, is an acquired taste.
REVIEWED ON 5/28/2000 GRADE: B
Dennis Schwartz: "Ozus' World Movie Reviews"
http://www.sover.net/~ozus
ozus@sover.net
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