The Belly of an Architect (1987)

An architect supervising an exhibition starts to have mysterious stomach pains while his life slowly falls apart.

Director:

Peter Greenaway

Writer:

Peter Greenaway

Stars:

Brian Dennehy, Chloe Webb, Lambert Wilson

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Brian Dennehy	...	Stourley Kracklite
Chloe Webb	...	Louisa Kracklite
Lambert Wilson	...	Caspasian Speckler
Sergio Fantoni	...	Io Speckler
Stefania Casini	...	Flavia Speckler
Vanni Corbellini	...	Frederico
Alfredo Varelli	...	Julio
Geoffrey Copleston	...	Caspetti
Francesco Carnelutti	...	Pastarri
Marino Masé	...	Trettorio
Marne Maitland	...	Battistino
Claudio Spadaro	...	Mori
Rate Furlan	...	Violinist
Julian Jenkins	...	Old Doctor
Enrica Maria Scrivano	...	Mother

Storyline

An American architect arrives in Italy, supervising an exhibition for a French architect, Boullée, who is famous for his oval structures. Through the course of 9 months he becomes obsessed with his belly, suffers severe stomach pains, loses his wife, exhibition, his unborn child and finally his own life.

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Plot Keywords:

italy | architect | stomach | british renaissance | female pubic hair | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

UK Italy

Language:

English Italian

Release Date:

16 October 1987 (UK)

Also Known As:

Arkitektens mage

Filming Locations:

Aurelian Walls, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Box Office

Gross USA:

$287,725

Company Credits

Production Co:

Callender Company, Mondial, Tangram Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

119 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Etienne-Louis Boullee (1728-1799) was a real architect. Many of his neoclassical designs that were built still exist, mostly in Paris, France. His project for the Cenotaph for Isaac Newton has been much studied by architects for its viability, not least by Albert Speer who modeled the New Berlin for Hitler. The cake presented to Kracklite at the initial banquet is a perfect replica of Boullee's drawings for the Isaac Newton Cenotaph.

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Goofs

The violinists (c.25 minutes and c. 99 minutes) mime very badly.

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Quotes

Stourley Kracklite: All fascists are meat-eaters.

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Connections

Referenced in The Tulse Luper Suitcases, Part 3: From Sark to the Finish (2004)

User Reviews

How can a drama make up (?) all the way to be a chilling thriller.

This is all about it!A spectacular drama so disturbing to become an "existence thriller".A deep and thorough look into the soul and the brain of a creative (in his very own way indeed) man.Psychosis breaks in, out of nowhere, to this man's mind and cripples his emotions, his thought and finally his life.The order mentioned before is exactly the event line of the film.Dark sides of our mind are brutally exposed and true inspiration appears to be not further than a step or two from madness.Excellent music that can both stand alone and brilliantly combine with the work, is what makes the film a true classic.A must see for everyone with a sense in real art.