I liked the theme of the film and many of the settings but it would have been so much better (IMO) if Greenaway would not have filmed it as a play. I think I get the reason why he did it. He wants to emphasise the theatrical part of organized religion. Still I don't think it was necessary.
I should point out that i usually don't like theatre so it might just be my prejudice.
- This comment is most likely authentic and fairly close to what I intended to say -
*spoilers within*
Nearly 4 years after your post, but boy you hit it right on the head what I was also thinking about this movie, having just seen it for the first time. I thought the story was interesting and delightfully unsettling with its brand of dark comedy. I think the points that were trying to be shown about religion, greed, human nature, etc were colorfully and clearly represented (not to mention I agree with them). But the play/theatre structure, while utterly creative to be sure, contributed to the film dragging a little slowly at times, along with making some of the dialogue difficult to understand at times when it is being "sung" or "chanted" by the cast. (I did not have closed caption on my version)
The play/theatre structure did definitely keep me guessing until the very end about how many "levels" of audiences and casts we had going, but to me that was not much of a plus. For a movie to keep me guessing is generally good, but I want to guess about plot elements, and the number of layers of audience had little to do with the plot I felt.
The one thing that there being *three* separate layers of audience (not including ourselves) rather than the two layers I had previously guessed until then, is that I feel this suggests that the "real" backstage rape of the female lead (along with her death and the death of the actor who played the bishop's son) was actually an event that the second level audience (shown to be actors in the end) was viewing as being real, but was evident to the third level audience as being a part of the larger "nested" plays that they were watching. Just a thought.
I love when I get answers to something I had forgotten I wrote. It's like a visit from a forgotten past. Thanks for the comment!
- No animal was hurt during the making of this burger -
I thought the play was the point of this film on many levels.
shareSorry for such a late posting - but yes, that is my main problem with it. It distances you from the storyline. Especially as this film has such a controversial subject matter. I suppose I can see why Greenaway did it, as it was about the film's take on celebrity and so on. It didn't gel with me and was one of the reasons why I didn't take a liking to the film.