Master director Greenaway (THE PILLOW BOOK) outdoes himself with this grisly fairy tale. The thief, Albert Spica, (Gambon) is a gangster, repugnant and boorish, who holds court at the same table in his opulent restaurant every night surrounded by his lackeys (Tim Roth and the late Ian Dury included). When his cultured and repressed wife Georgina (Mirren) becomes magnetically attracted to a solitary diner in the restaurant, the two begin a secret affair under the nose of her dangerous husband. With the help of the restaurant's chef, the time the lovers share is kept secret from the vicious Albert...for a while. Despite the breathtaking production design and artful camera work, this violent, disturbing and very darkly comic work is not for everyone. Those with the stomach for it, however, will reap generous rewards.

A vicious thief presides over the menu and operation of a gourmet restaurant run by a French chef. Each evening, the thief and the uncouth gangsters in his mob, go there to dine and subject the restaurant's other patrons to gross displays of crassness and vulgarity. His estranged and disgusted wife is part of this entourage, but one night she sees a man in the corner of the restaurant quietly reading. Their eyes meet and several minutes later they begin a torrid affair which, abetted by the chef, takes place nightly in different rooms of the restaurant: the bathroom, the kitchen, the meat freezer. When the thief learns of his wife's infidelities, he seeks a grisly revenge against the lovers, which is later countered by his wife's rather more clever plans for vengeance against him.

Peter Greenaway is one of England's most famous and controversial contemporary directors. His films are known for their lush production design and their attention to the detail of costumes, architecture, cinematography, and especially music. He is also known for his political ideas; a leftist filmmaker, whose films often comment on the political situation in contemporary England.

In "The Cook..." the horrendous excess and graphic violence comment viciously on the greed and serve-the-rich attitude of Margaret Thatcher's government in the 1980s UK. The film premiered in 1989, the same year that members of Britain's Labor Party, students and other concerned citizens were protesting Thatcher's Poll Tax, which would have taxed each person within a household rather than on the overall value of the property that the household stood on. Because the tax would have penalized the largest families rather than the richest landholders, the Poll Tax was an extreme measure in Thatcher's overarching plan to sink Britain's working class. This film becomes less of a gruesome, exploitative horror show and more of a "radical" socio-political comment when looked at in this context and in its social setting.

Many have tried to ascribe simplistic functions to the film's metaphoric characters. For example, the Wife, they say, is meant to represent raped and humiliated Britain while the Thief is a symbol for the greed and corruption of the Conservative Party. These labels are a bit too simplistic, however, because the Wife also represents the situation of women in England more generally, and the Thief the more global pillaging of multinational capitalism in the Reagan/Thatcher years.

The filmmaker Sally Potter, another British political director, released a well-received film entitled "Orlando" (1992) based on the novel by Virginia Woolf. The film has the lush visual look of Greenaway's pictures, and she employed his production designer on "Orlando."

The part played by Helen Mirren was originally given to Vanessa Redgrave, who pulled out of the film.

Approximate budget $2.5 million.

Began shooting February 12, 1989; completed shooting April 1989. Released in London October 13, 1989; in Paris November 1, 1989; in New York City April 6, 1990 and Los Angeles April 13, 1990. Shown at the Venice Film Festival September 4, 1989 and at the Toronto Festival of Festivals September 9-11, 1989.

The film was originally released unrated; then rated MPAA X, and re-rated NC-17. The 2nd video version was rated MPAA R. The X rating created an outcry that in fact led to the creation of NC-17. Usually films rated X were considered "adult" rather than "artistic" and often could not advertise in mainstream newspapers which did not accept ads for X-rated movies.

Rated BBFC 18 by the British Board of Film Classification.

Shot in CinemaScope.

DVD Features:

Region 1
Keep Case
Anamorphic Widescreen - 2.35
Single Side - Dual Layer
Audio:
Dolby Surround - English
Additional Release Material:
Trailers - 1. Original Theatrical Trailer

Helen Mirren: British Actress
Michael Gambon: Irish Stage/Film Actor - A Dry White Season/Sleepy Hollow
Richard Bohringer: French Actor
Alan Howard: British Actor
Tim Roth: British Actor
Ciaran Hinds: Supporting Actor
Ian Dury: British Rock Singer
Gary Olsen: Supporting Actor

Peter Greenaway: British Director/Screenwriter

Kees Kasander: Producer

Peter Greenaway: British Director/Screenwriter

Michael Nyman: Film composer

"...Stunningly photographed....A provocative and diabolically funny foray into the roots of passion and cruelty..."
"...A fascinating story....Greenaway is now beyond question the most exciting intelligence at work in our cinema..."
"...Greenaway's spectacular use of wide-screen turns his sets into living characters..."
"...Elegant, stylized and brutal....It evokes our best emotions and least civil impulses, so esthetically brilliant that it expands the boundaries of film itself..."
"...[Greenaway] pulls out all the visceral stops in THE COOK, THE THIEF, HIS WIFE AND HER LOVER..."