Am I the only person who didn't think the film was so terrible?

I loved it. I thought it was beautifully directed and a lot of the dialogue made me laugh out loud. I think it contains a certain kind of existential absurdisty that evokes Beckett sometimes.

Just had the pleasure of finally viewing this one! - found it every bit as intriguing, intricate, elaborate, cerebral and witty as anything else PG has written/directed. I'm not (yet) acquainted with his entire body of work, but am willing to wager that there is contained in 8.5W a small reference to each of his previous films; I was making immediate connections with those I am familiar with, most notably ZOO.

"POWER TO THE PEOPLE WHO PUNISH BAD CINEMA!!!"

Judging by the replies you have received, you are not the only person. I however think it is horrible. I just am lost for words. To call it pretentious and self-indulgent just doesn't do it. Listening to the dialogue caused me physical discomfort. Every attitude, every intonation, every line spoken by the father and son made me feel deeply uncomfortable.

I remember when "The Draughtsman's Contract" came out. I thought it was interesting but also irritating. His later films (Cook Thief, Prospero's Books etc) I found unwatchable. I saw a program about Greenaway years ago, and he went through the scenes of his films explaining how he composed each setup, and which renaissance painting he had based it on. I wondered then why he bothered to encode all of this data, just so that it could be thrown "out there", when hardly anybody then had the knowledge to decode it. And for what? Do the films tell you anything about real people?

Or are they just a series of decorous images wrapped with a sense of smugness and cleverness?

Oh dear oh dear.

ilyamilstein, I liked it too - you can read my user comment if you follow a few links. I thought it was very funny and the actors are so good, particularly John Standing, that just listening to them talk is worth the price of admission.

Possibly the reason people dislike this is that they thought they were going to get something more straightforwardly erotic. Whereas it's more Greenaway business as usual.

Many people have got bored with his style over the years I guess, but I still like it. Just a shame Dawn French pulled out, I would like to have seen her in a Greenaway movie.


I used to want to change the world. Now I just want to leave the room with a little dignity.

I bought the DVD a year ago but never watched it because of all the negative review. But finally I got around to it and what a great film. I really loved the story, the compositions, the message and the references. I understand why many people can not take it but I really don't get why so many say that there is no message in the film. I think the message is: 1) Sometimes fantasies should just be fantasies (it is the fantasies which destroy them) and 2) you can never own people. It will always turn against you.

A really good film (IMO) 7/10.


- This comment is most likely authentic and fairly close to what I intended to say -

I like it. I like the story line. Two men who think the ideal would be to have a harem and then it goes to pieces on them. It's like a Shakespeare play where no main character lives at the end.

I loved a lot of the visual, especially the Japanese woman with the pig and the Austrian woman with her horse, like these women were tied to specific animals. I liked the nun and her story...and I also liked the maid and the women who wanted to get pregnant all the time...all the characters were interesting.

I thought the scene where the one Japanese woman wanting the older man to dress up like a female and act so was amusing. And then her reaction to it.

It was a nice blend of morbidity and reality with fantasy and humor...which is what I get with most of Peter Greenaway's films. The only film of his I didn't like so much was the Pillow Book, but I feel I may have to re-watch that one.

I LOVED the Tulse Luper Suitcases, well the first one. You can't find the other two to view in the States. But I here his VJ show is playing an US date.

This thread's not dead!

I like this film too. It's certainly not Greenaway's finest, but a second-rate Greenaway is worth several hundred first rate Hollywood movies.

Personally, I think John Standing really makes this movie shine. He is so vulnerable and sad (and very funny) and is rewarded with one of the most pleasant deaths of any character in all of Greenaway's films.

It's good to see there are fans of this film out there somewhere! You are not alone!