It's unfortunate, really, that Greenaway had to come off Pillow Book to make this movie. I had been looking forward to it for a while and it finally opened in Texas yesterday.
It's with great remorse that I write that this movie was tremendously bad. It was sort of like a Brahms concerto--nary a climactic scene in sight.
The acting was stilted (Vivian Wu, the only actress Greenaway has ever used twice, was unfortunately not used well). The scenes and lighting and cinematography were lush, as is to be expected from this director. But nearly everything else about this movie was ponderous. It was definitely long enough for there to have been an adequately developed story/character/plot/anything, but there was none. This movie did nothing. It broached nothing. It made no point. Maybe it'll get better with age and with more in-depth viewing, but, if that's the case, save your eight dollars and see it on video.
It's with great remorse that I write that this movie was tremendously bad. It was sort of like a Brahms concerto--nary a climactic scene in sight.
The acting was stilted (Vivian Wu, the only actress Greenaway has ever used twice, was unfortunately not used well). The scenes and lighting and cinematography were lush, as is to be expected from this director. But nearly everything else about this movie was ponderous. It was definitely long enough for there to have been an adequately developed story/character/plot/anything, but there was none. This movie did nothing. It broached nothing. It made no point. Maybe it'll get better with age and with more in-depth viewing, but, if that's the case, save your eight dollars and see it on video.