8 ½ Women (1999)

User Rating:

5.6/10   

Director:

Peter Greenaway

Writer:

Peter Greenaway (writer)

Release Date:

12 August 1999 (Czech Republic)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

If every man thinks of sex once every nine minutes, what does he think of the other eight?

Plot:

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".

Plot Keywords:

Brothel | Nun | Concubine | Death | Pig

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

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

Also Known As:

8 1/2 Women (UK) (alternative spelling)
8½ Women (UK) (alternative spelling)
Eight and a Half Women (UK) (alternative spelling)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong sexual content including dialogue and pervasive nudity.

Runtime:

118 min

Country:

UK | Netherlands | Luxembourg | Germany

Language:

English | Italian | Japanese | Latin

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Certification:

Italy:VM14 | New Zealand:R18 | Singapore:R21 | Singapore:R(A) (original rating) (cut) | Argentina:16 | France:-12 | Iceland:14 (original rating) | Iceland:16 (video rating) | Ireland:18 | Malaysia:(Banned) | Netherlands:16 | Norway:15 | Portugal:M/16 | South Korea:18 | UK:15 | USA:R | Australia:R

Filming Locations:

Japan

Company:

Woodline Productions

Quotes:

Philip Emmenthal: Looking at my father's prick; I think that's what got me to study engineering... Watching his Eiffel Tower, his Empire State building, perhaps it's what made me a good engineer. The penis, if you think about it, is the greatest engineering feature imaginable...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Hannah Takes the Stairs (2007)

Soundtrack:

On a Slow Boat to China

I enjoyed it even if it's very juvenile

It seems that when Peter Greenaway lets his hair down, he automatically reverts back to adolescence. 8 1/2 WOMEN is visually striking and the dialogue has a rhythm and cadence to it that's a joy to listen. But the whole thing is simply infantile. I'm aware that the movie is not meant to be taken seriously and that the characters in the story are immature spoiled brats but that doesn't mean the movie itself has to feel like it was done by an immature, spoiled artist. The end product feels more like someone who's got too much time on his hands and creates movies from whatever pops in his head than something that comes from the heart or mind. Few of the characters are interesting, as people or as subjects for a movie. The dialogue was funny and caustic but the constant need to blurt out certain "shocking" words was really silly, and got only sillier by the end of the film. Only the brilliant visual and aural feast that usually typifies a Greenaway film made this worth watching.