The Cook the Thief His Wife & Her Lover
(Netherlands - France)
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Richard Bohringer
Michael Gambon
Helen Mirren
Alan Howard
Tim Roth
Liz Smith
Setting is a smart restaurant, La Hollan- daise, where Richard, the chef (Richard Bohringer) prepares a lavish menu every night. Among his regular customers are Albert Spica (Michael Gambon), a loudmouthed, vulgar, violent gangster, who dines with his entourage of seedy yes-men, and his bored, beautiful wife, Georgina (Helen Mirren).
At another table each night sits Michael (Alan Howard), a quiet, diffident man who's always reading books. He and Georgina make eye contact, and soon they're having a series of secret rendezvous. Eventually Albert discovers his wife's infidelity, and takes a typically violent revenge, triggering a more unusual retaliation from her.
Albert is one of the ugliest characters ever brought to the screen. Ignorant, over-bearing and violent, it's a gloriously rich performance by Gambon.
In contrast, Helen Mirren (in a role which was originally to have been played by Vanessa Redgrave) is all calm politeness and mute acceptance until her passion is aroused by the (far from handsome) Michael.
(Color) Available on VHS, DVD. Extract of a review from 1989. Running time: 126 MIN.
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