johnnyboyz Peter Greenaway's 1999 Cannes nominated film covers the exploits and rather grotesque misadventures of two people obsessed with the mistreatment of women; expanding their own sexual horizons and a specific film from the Italian filmmaker Federico Fellini from whence this piece draws on inspiration for its own title. It's a stark, confrontational piece; placing characters at the heart of it we do not especially like doing things we can not, hopefully, especially relate to; but is mostly engrossing and never especially alienating. For those that watch films throughout the world, whose initial port of call in criticising a film is to hone in on whether the leads we're asked to follow are at all likable, let everyone whom has seen 8 ½ Women help you save your time in saying that you will not take to this.8 ½ Women zeroes in on two males whom are father and son. They are rich; with the father, Philip (Standing), controlling the money; investments and where most of the time is spent in hopping from Japan based business enterprises and luxurious Swiss homes. His son is Storey (Delamere), and the film will cover their gradually ill advised hate filled attitudes towards women which runs in tandem with their gross methods in attempting to grieve. Their grieving is born out of the death of a woman whom was both their mother and wife, a loss which is supposedly representable of one half of the items the West are obsessed with, namely death, out of which many-a sexual escapades are born: the sex being the other half to that sum of the two obsessive items. The film studies the sordid existence of the two men, as apparent liberation from the ties of motherhood and marriage enable the two to explore new areas of sexual awareness and strive for some sort of state of happiness.The closest controversial British director Peter Greenaway comes to winking at the audience is when he has Philip sit in front of Fellini's 1963 film, entitled 8½, and has him ponder to himself whether directors make the films with the sorts of content they have for the sake of creativity or if it's all just a reason to indulge in one's fantasies. With 8 ½ Women, the film is about the exploration of fantasies; the fantasies two distinct male characters possess with their empowerment and ownership of an array of different women from different nations, as well as the disturbing sexual fondness for each other, all the result of this family member departing. The film will begin with Philip and his cohorts' taking over of a Japanese based gambling arcade, much to the distress of the previous owner; an early example of the father-son pairing implementing their power and control over those around them to their apparent pleasure and, you'd think, to the recipients overall disdain. The reaction to the death of their mother and wife, and the general mentality both men will adopt because of it, is unbeknownst to us when the two of them sit around an indoor pool and talk about certain things. The lapping water in the low lighting casting odd, distorted shadows over each of their faces suggesting an imbalanced persona or mentality – something that will become increasingly evident as they attempt to fill a void of sorts left by this passing.A further extension of both Philip and Storey's sense of elevation over most of whom that they're dealing with is highlighted in a case study with regards to how one's spare time is spent, and the leisurely activities they engage in. As hordes of faceless gamblers sit at one arm bandit-style game machines, the father and son combination are sitting watching Japanese theatre, specifically, a text further still featuring a character confused with their own sexuality, but a text which prompts debate between the two. This, as later on they're watching said Fellini film and talking expansively about it and of analogies to do with architecture and masculinity. Here, sequences systematic of both their apparent cultural superiority over most others play out. Given this and given the distinction between the father and son pairing with, supposedly, everybody else; the underlying sense of disturbance in these men's actions is only further highlighted when we realise they are not what the writer could so easily have made them: ie; these pig-headed idiots whom are barely able to string together a sentence. Instead, and placing them as spectators of two texts of a relatively highly artistic nature which requires insight and interaction, they're rendered of a well informed sort. Our realisation that their actions, mindsets and attitudes towards one another as well as the opposite sex are what they given how supposedly intelligent these two are only aids in getting across the effective sense of disturbance Greenaway is aiming for.Ultimately, the film will revolve around the happenings at a large manor house in Switzerland; somewhere Philip and Storey bring a number of women of varying 'types' so as to fill the many, empty rooms at the house. Here, women from all over the world are placed for their amusement and company; a scary haven in which the women exist to either please one of the male pairings' sexual appetites or dress up in age old maid uniforms so as to clean up. Later, a new arrival relegating one of Philip's prior favourites to nothing more than a courtyard dancer, still trussed up in whatever visually appealing costume she's apparently meant to be wearing, desperate for attention having effectively been 'replaced', in what is a sordid turn of events indeed. On another occasion, one of the other women becoming pregnant, the thought of a child being introduced to this sexist dystopia sees her banished from this place in that she's exported out of the country. The film is shrill, and as a documentation of these sordid characters and their ill-possessed attitudes, 8 ½ Women works as a disturbing slice of drama.

scarletminded This is a great Greenaway film. And like most Greenaway films, it is stuck in its own little universe. If you step into that universe and not like it, you will most likely walk out, never to return. But for us that love Greenaway's universe, we will stay and make ourselves a pot of the strangest tea and drink it, greedily.The plot revolves around an older man, who had just lost his wife of many years, and his son. They watch Fellini and decide to capture some woman to make a harem of their desires. Some women come there to satisfy a debt, another comes of her own free will, as long as they pay her $75,000 a year. Each woman has an interesting back story. One is addicted to gambling, one loves her horse, one loves to have babies, one is a nun, one is a martyring maid, one is in a wheelchair. Each of these woman could be a character from a Fellini film.The movie is filled with a lot of wit and irony, once the women come to the house. The women start making demands and by the end, the movie is dropped into a metaphoric and Shakespearian tragic end. I won't give any more details than that.The lighting, mood and story of this movie is completely original. Some viewers might not like the frankness of the dialog and/or the nudity of both sexes, but I feel it ranks right up there with Greenway's other films, like Tulse Luper Suitcases, The Falls, Zoo, Drowning by Numbers, etc. I heard it was a sexist movie, but I have seen more sexism in slapstick comedies and films like In The Company of Men. I usually look for a good story and interesting characters, be they flawed or not, and 8 !/2 Women delivers both. I wasn't bored for a second watching this.The director makes his own little world. It's an odd world and has different moral standards, but that is part of its charm viewers tend to miss.

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.

Maciste_Brother It seems that when Peter Greenaway lets his hair down, he automatically reverts back to adolescence. 8 1/2 WOMEN is visually striking and the dialogue has a rhythm and cadence to it that's a joy to listen. But the whole thing is simply infantile. I'm aware that the movie is not meant to be taken seriously and that the characters in the story are immature spoiled brats but that doesn't mean the movie itself has to feel like it was done by an immature, spoiled artist. The end product feels more like someone who's got too much time on his hands and creates movies from whatever pops in his head than something that comes from the heart or mind. Few of the characters are interesting, as people or as subjects for a movie. The dialogue was funny and caustic but the constant need to blurt out certain "shocking" words was really silly, and got only sillier by the end of the film. Only the brilliant visual and aural feast that usually typifies a Greenaway film made this worth watching.