The Belly of an Architect

"Terrible"

The Belly of an Architect Review


Architect Stourley Kracklite (Brian Dennehy) arrives in Rome, where an exhibition of the works of the 18th-century architect Etienne-Louis Boullée is being mounted under Kracklite's supervision. The city - or something - doesn't sit with him; upon arrival, he begins complaining of stomach pains. Cancer? Kracklite is sure of it. Or not: It could be that his wife Louisa (Chloe Webb), with whom he is traveling (and who is pregnant with his child), is poisoning him, a revenge for his self-absorption. She may be further motivated in this by the affair she has taken up with Caspasian Speckler (Lambert Wilson), another architect involved with the exhibition. Which brings us back to the exhibition: Boullée's architectural metaphor of choice was the oval, a detail that finds an echo in Louisa's pregnancy and Kracklite's gut; and, in fact, Kracklite soon discovers that Boullée's life in many ways parallels his own. There's the fact too of a Roman statue of Augustus to which Kracklite takes a shine, and the pertinent detail being that Augustus was himself poisoned by his wife Livia. Our hero, among other eccentric behaviors, begins xeroxing photos of the statue's stomach...

So it is that Peter Greenaway's The Belly of an Architect is crammed to bursting with symbolism, analogy, and allusion, all loosed within a circular plot wherein the film opens with the architect and his wife conceiving a child and closes with the opening of Boullée's exhibition, Kracklite's real "baby." But for many viewers, I believe, the most telling parallel is that between Kracklite, with his perpetual stomach upset, and director Greenaway: Both are pretentious gasbags. Another quick connection is that between the "belly" of the title and "taste." The secret subtext of all of Greenaway's work is that his taste is good, or at least arcane in a high-minded way (and despite a predilection for bodily functions that is present in most of his films, which in less tony productions would rightly be termed sophomoric). The viewer is invited to share in this, but it's made clear that those who don't (or who can't follow his esoteric web of allusion) are either pigs (as was the villain in Greenaway's major success, 1989's The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover), philistines, or merely dim.

Greenaway has an eye for composition, and in The Belly of an Architect many formal arrangements stand out for their beauty. Dennehy, always engaging, is slyly illegible in the central role, a stroke of luck maybe for the director, who has shown himself to be disinclined to bother much with actors. But the relentless condescension and self-congratulation with which Greenaway conducts this very private amusement is grotesque. He fosters the worst imaginable relationship with his audience: showing off while condemning those not enlightened enough to cherish his preening. In Kracklite, Greenaway has created a self-obsessed, boorish non-hero on whom to hang his obscurantist ramblings, and his indifference to his audience is so great that he expects us to relish it. Who's the asshole here?



The Belly of an Architect

Facts and Figures

Run time: 118 mins

In Theaters: Wednesday 23rd September 1987

Production compaines: Sacis, Callender Company, Mondial, Tangram Film, Film Four International, British Screen, Hemdale Group

Reviews

Contactmusic.com: 1 / 5

Rotten Tomatoes: 91%
Fresh: 10 Rotten: 1

IMDB: 7.0 / 10

Cast & Crew

Director:

Starring: as Stourley Kracklite, as Louisa Kracklite, as Caspasian Speckler, as Io Speckler, as Flavia Speckler

Contactmusic


Links


New Movies

Star Wars: The Last Jedi Movie Review

Star Wars: The Last Jedi Movie Review

After the thunderous reception for J.J. Abrams' Episode VII: The Force Awakens two years ago,...

Daddy's Home 2 Movie Review

Daddy's Home 2 Movie Review

Like the 2015 original, this comedy plays merrily with cliches to tell a silly story...

The Man Who Invented Christmas Movie Review

The Man Who Invented Christmas Movie Review

There's a somewhat contrived jauntiness to this blending of fact and fiction that may leave...

Ferdinand Movie Review

Ferdinand Movie Review

This animated comedy adventure is based on the beloved children's book, which was published in...

Brigsby Bear Movie Review

Brigsby Bear Movie Review

Director Dave McCary makes a superb feature debut with this offbeat black comedy, which explores...

Battle of the Sexes Movie Review

Battle of the Sexes Movie Review

A dramatisation of the real-life clash between tennis icons Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs,...

Shot Caller Movie Review

Shot Caller Movie Review

There isn't much subtlety to this prison thriller, but it's edgy enough to hold the...

Advertisement
The Disaster Artist Movie Review

The Disaster Artist Movie Review

A hilariously outrageous story based on real events, this film recounts the making of the...

Stronger Movie Review

Stronger Movie Review

Based on a true story about the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, this looks like one...

Only the Brave Movie Review

Only the Brave Movie Review

Based on a genuinely moving true story, this film undercuts the realism by pushing its...

Wonder Movie Review

Wonder Movie Review

This film may be based on RJ Palacio's fictional bestseller, but it approaches its story...

Happy End  Movie Review

Happy End Movie Review

Austrian auteur Michael Haneke isn't known for his light touch, but rather for hard-hitting, award-winning...

Patti Cake$ Movie Review

Patti Cake$ Movie Review

Seemingly from out of nowhere, this film generates perhaps the biggest smile of any movie...

The Limehouse Golem Movie Review

The Limehouse Golem Movie Review

A Victorian thriller with rather heavy echoes of Jack the Ripper, this film struggles to...

Advertisement
Artists
Actors
    Filmmakers
      Artists
      Bands
        Musicians
          Artists
          Celebrities
             
              Artists
              Interviews