8 ½ Women (1999)

Following the death of the mother, a father and son open up a brothel in their Genevan estate after watching Fellini's "8 1/2".

Director:

Peter Greenaway

Writer:

Peter Greenaway

Stars:

John Standing, Matthew Delamere, Vivian Wu

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
John Standing	...	Philip Emmenthal
Matthew Delamere	...	Storey Emmenthal
Vivian Wu	...	Kito
Annie Shizuka Inoh	...	Simato (as Shizuka Inoh)
Barbara Sarafian	...	Clothilde
Kirina Mano	...	Mio
Toni Collette	...	Griselda / Sister Concordia
Amanda Plummer	...	Beryl
Natacha Amal	...	Giaconda the Baby Factory
Manna Fujiwara	...	Giulietta / Half Woman
Polly Walker	...	Palmira
Elizabeth Berrington	...	Celeste, Emmenthal Maid
Myriam Muller	...	Marianne, Emmenthal Maid
Don Warrington	...	Simon
Claire Johnston	...	Amelia, Philip's Wife

Storyline

After his wife dies, 55-year-old businessman Philip Emmenthal, at the prompting of his playboy son Storey, populates his Geneva villa with eight and a half concubines. Three are from Kyoto, where Storey manages Pachinco palaces. Each has a distinctive personality: a nun, a child bearer, a gambler, a student of Kabuki, a horsewoman with a pet pig, a maid. Philip throws off his strait-laced and repressed attitudes, immersing himself in pleasure. After about a year, the women begin to assert their own power. Side adventures pre-figure the household's breakup, and the women depart in one way or another, one at at time. Philip's fate is in the hands of Palmira, his favorite.

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Plot Keywords:

kabuki | maid | concubine | death | businessman | 

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Taglines:

If every man is supposed to think of sex once every nine minutes, what on earth does he think of in the other eight?

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong sexual content including dialogue and pervasive nudity

Details

Country:

UK Netherlands Luxembourg Germany

Language:

English Italian Japanese Latin

Release Date:

10 December 1999 (UK)

Also Known As:

8 femmes 1/2

Filming Locations:

Japan

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$92,000 (USA) (26 May 2000)

Gross:

$417,517 (USA) (21 July 2000)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Woodline Productions, Movie Masters, Delux Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

118 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

Philip Emmenthal: You aren't... gay, are you?
Storey Emmenthal: No... well, I love my own cock well enough, but I've never had enough enthusiasm for anyone else's.
[referring to the house]
Storey Emmenthal: I thought you had this re-decorated?
Philip Emmenthal: It was your mother's idea... but don't change the subject. How come you haven't got plans to marry?
Storey Emmenthal: Perhaps because I'm much in love with my prick to share it permanently. And that's probably your fault.
Philip Emmenthal: My fault?
Storey Emmenthal: Since I was eight years old, you put that big mirror on my wardrobe's door; and I wanted to be ...

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Connections

Features 8½ (1963)

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Soundtracks

"Excerpt from 'Otello'"
Composed by Giuseppe Verdi
Performed by Vladimir Bogachov & The Koninklijk Concertgebouworkest (as Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra)
Conducted by Riccardo Chailly

User Reviews

A wallowing lesson in sexual indulgence

John Standing plays Philip Emmenthal, a banker who has just gained control of some pachinko parlors. His odd son Storey is looking after them in Japan, while Philip resides in his mansion in Geneva. When Philip's wife dies, he tells Storey to return to Geneva to console him. While there, Storey takes Philip to see Felini's 8 1/2, and it gives them both an inspiration to use their mansion as a bordello. They go back to Japan and bring an assortment of women back to the mansion.

The women are all unusual. One of them,a nun, has her head shaved, and speaks in a weird Dutch sounding language. Another one keeps getting pregnant. One falls of her horse. One has a huge pet pig. Storey, and especially Philip have both found a new lease of life. There are plenty of nude bodies on show, although hardly any sex. The two men continually talk about penises. Greenaway seems to have indulged himself in this film with sexual wallowing, with plenty of talk about sex, and nude bodies. But the film is not all that bad. Certainly not as bad as it was poorly received in Cannes last year. It is yet another Greenaway film that is beautiful to look at. The setting is nice, it was filmed in Luxembourg. Not one of Greenaway's best films, but certainly worth watching.