To me, this movie is perfection.

A lot of fun.

Blistering performances.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

This film was in limited release but I saw it in Dallas through USA Film Festival screening. I asked a friend to go - she's as open to difficult material as anyone and she was pretty repulsed, although didn't get up and leave. Not being a film buff per se, I was mesmerized by the visual drama. I'm hooked by Greenaway's gutsy artful literate approach to hooking the audience. After the film I had trouble sleeping for a few days and I'm not sure I could see it again, but don't regret it. It's hard to articulate without a working knowledge of film making and depth of knowledge of all the literary and historical references, but the film hits you on so many levels at once, it's an emotional and mental feast, borderline overdose. You can always get up and walk out if it's too much but fascination and experiential high overcome the trauma of what's happening on the screen. A fabulous beautiful, riveting, difficult film. Not for the squeamish.

This movie is about many different things at once, and is played out on several different levels at once. On the surface, the movie is about the setting up of a play about a historical event. Peter Greenaway lets the storyline switch between the play and the historical event, thereby breaking down the barrier between the movies play and the movies reality, and simultaneously breaking down the barrier between the movie and reality, making it near impossible to brush of the events as "Ah, it's just a movie".The way he does this is so skillful, that somebody should invent a Nobel price in directing and give it to him. :)This is a movie lovers movie. If you aren't a cineast and would rather see a guy with two machine guns killing people that spend an hour or two thinking, forget about it. It will only make you confused. And if you are a sensitive person, this movie might make you feel bad for days.

This film was shown at the Cannes film festival nearly a decade ago and apparently received more walkouts than any film in the festival's history--and "Wild at Heart" won the grand prize here?Unlike most films that use sex and violence to help sell them, Greenaway seems to have no interest in "selling". The story he tells--which takes the form of a play attended by royalty and commonfolk alike--is a Shakespearian fable regarding a young woman (Julia Ormond) who uses her disfigured mother's newborn as a messiah-like figure to gain wealth and comfort, much to the dismay of the church (repped by Ralph Fiennes).To say that the writer/director of this film is a sick person because of what happens in the story is shortsighted, at best. Yes, there are truly heinous atrocities committed by some of these characters--but the manner in which it is depicted does nothing to suggest glamour or vicarious thrills. David Lynch's Golden Palm winner, on the other hand, is full of all manner of freaks and malicious acts played mostly for laughs. Greenaway definitely got the soiled end of the stick on this one.It's a shame, too. This film recently played for just a few nights in one of Chicago's most prominent art theaters. It's never received anything remotely close to a nationwide theatrical or video release, and it's my favorite Greenaway film, second only to "The Cook, the Thief...". If one is interested in this sort of experience and has a fairly strong stomach, I'd recommend a theatrical screening in a minute.

As all of Peter Greenaway's films, this one is a feast for the eyes. A beautifully shot and staged Grand Guignol horror, that is as certain to please some as it is to cause revulsion in others. It certainly won't give you an easy time of it, but if you're willing to ignore such things as plot and story you can enjoy some of the purest eye-candy ever filmed. I enjoyed it, but wouldn't recommend to my friends without a word of warning.