The Belly of an Architect

"The Belly of an Architect" is one of those films, not unlike another Greenaway effort "The Pillow Book", which languishes somewhere between reality and the surreal and just beyond the realm of the understandable. The film, which tells of the mental deterioration of an architect, features some postcard quality shots of Rome, good work by Dennehy, and little else. Webb seems miscast; performances seem scripted and staged; too much emphasis on art and not enough on story; and the Tivo'd version I watched was of poor video quality. Over the top stuff which makes dinner table conversation for dilettantes but tedium for the film going public.

source: The Belly of an Architect

The Belly of an Architect

American architect Stourley Kracklite (Brian Dennehy) arrives in Italy to supervising an exhibition for French architect Boullée. His wife Louisa (Chloe Webb) seem to love him. He starts suffering from stomach pains and his life falls apart. The camera style is set further away to take in the massive architecture of the locations. There are few close ups and often times, the characters are set small on the screen. It elevates Stourley's isolation and detachment from the general humanity. There are few personal crowds. In fact, exteriors are mostly empty of people other than the other needed characters and traffic. It does make the movie a little distancing. It's somewhat different and interesting. It's also a little tiring which is the desired effects.

An Architect and his wife find themselves in Ancient Rome 1987! The Architect's life, (played brilliantly by Dennehy), falls apart by his obsession with a cancer stricken stomach. May sound like turgid stuff but Greenaway keeps it fascinating.

There are certain common elements to Peter Greenaway's films: striking images and music, archly stylised dialogue, and grotesque subject matters. 'The Belly of an Architect' is not perhaps his most celebrated film, but possibly it's my favourite. An American architect comes to Rome where he encounters Caspasian, a smooth Italian who plans to steal (in approximate order of beloved-ness) his money, wife, exhibition and (quite possibly) his life. Naturally, Greenaway is in his element filming in Rome; but in spite of his typically lack of naturalism, this is a film with real sincerity and heart. One could suggest the entire point of the film is that the wonderfully named Kracklite is entering (on coming to Rome) into Greenaway's world; and doing so to die alone amid the splendour. The final scene with the doctor is both magnificent and sad.

I only can say that Brian Dennehy is not the typical Greenaway actor, but Greenaway gets to work with him in order to take him to the summit of his work. It is over the fat policeman bored of what he does, alcoholic, disenchanted... Here, the American Architect, his wife, the exhibition, the Italian rival, everything is planned, and Greenway's work with actors gets the best performance Brian could ever have dreamt about. Besides, Peter Greenaway has made his masterpiece with this film in my opinion. I saw it for the first time when I was 16 (now, I'm 33) and I got truly impressed, thinking it was the best movie I had seen in my whole life. That is not much to say. Now, at 33, every time I see it I think the very same thing. Enjoy Greenaway's masterpiece!

"The Belly of an Architect" is one of those films, not unlike another Greenaway effort "The Pillow Book", which languishes somewhere between reality and the surreal and just beyond the realm of the understandable. The film, which tells of the mental deterioration of an architect, features some postcard quality shots of Rome, good work by Dennehy, and little else. Webb seems miscast; performances seem scripted and staged; too much emphasis on art and not enough on story; and the Tivo'd version I watched was of poor video quality. Over the top stuff which makes dinner table conversation for dilettantes but tedium for the film going public.

An American architect (Dennehy) comes to Rome with his wife to create an exhibition he's been working on for 10years. He is troubled though by a terrible pain in his stomach. Like all Greenaway's projects, this is decidedly off kilter - though not as much as usual - with his usual structured picture framing and colour (red and green) and fabulous use of music. The wonderful soundtrack here is not by Nyman, but is very similar. Dennehy is perfect in the lead role, but Chloe Webb as his wife puts in a rather strange stilted performance as his wife. This starts slow but improves as it goes along as Dennehy's story unfolds. Not for everyone, but lovers of the great director will enjoy this, even if it is more orthodox than usual.

One of my favorite Greenaway films. Story, visuals, metaphor, acting, music...it's got it all. The visuals of Rome are stunning. Wim Mertens' musical accompaniment is brilliant and on par with any modern minimalist composition. After years of seeing his TV roles, I was completely floored by the depth and authenticity Brian Dennehey brought to the main character. I've watched this film at least a dozen times over the years and enjoy it thoroughly each time. Unlike a previous reviewer, I don't see the need to judge this film based on how much it resembles previous or subsequent Greenaway films. "Belly of An Architect" is not as abstract as some of the other Greenaway films, but that shouldn't be viewed as a negative. The film is great and rich in its own right. I highly recommend it.