8 ½ Women (1999)

Following the death of a mother, a father and son open up a brothel in their Genevan estate after watching 8½ (1963).

Director:

Peter Greenaway

Writer:

Peter Greenaway

Stars:

John Standing, Matthew Delamere, Vivian Wu

2 nominations.

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, fifty-five-year-old businessman Philip Emmenthal (Sir John Standing), at the prompting of his playboy son Storey (Matthew Delamere), populates his Geneva villa with eight and a half concubines. Three are from Kyoto, Japan, 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, and 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 break-up, and the women depart in one way or another, one at at time. Philip's fate is in the hands of Palmira (Polly Walker), his favorite.

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Plot Keywords:

pubic hair | brothel | breasts | female full frontal nudity | lust | 

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Taglines:

When sexual desire becomes an obsession, it's every man for himself.

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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 ½ Women

Filming Locations:

Japan

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$92,000, 29 May 2000

Gross USA:

$424,123

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$437,568

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?

Trivia

[All trivia items for this title are spoilers.]

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Quotes

Storey Emmenthal: I'm thinking of making a film... about all this: our experiences.
Philip Emmenthal: Why make a film when you can live it? Most films are about people longing for something that they haven't got, and what they haven't got is sex and happiness... and we've got both. Or at least... I have.

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Connections

References M. Butterfly (1993)

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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

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.