The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover

"Lust...Murder...Dessert. Bon Appetit!"

1989 2h 4m EN

👍

7.3

SOLID

★7.3TMDB · 747

CrimeDrama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

When churlish mobster Albert Spica acquires an upscale French restaurant in London, he dines there nightly, effectively scaring off the clientele with his bad manners. His wife, Georgina, is especially disgusted by him, and soon begins an affair with regular guest Michael. Despite their best efforts to keep it secret, Spica learns about their trysts, and he plots a terrible revenge.

“Lust...Murder...Dessert. Bon Appetit!”

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Where to watch · US

Cast

Michael Gambon
Albert Spica
Richard Bohringer
Richard Boarst
Helen Mirren
Georgina Spica
Alan Howard
Michael
Tim Roth
Mitchel
Ciarán Hinds
Cory
Liz Smith
Grace
Gary Olsen
Spangler

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Peter Greenaway
Writers: Peter Greenaway
Languages: English
Countries: France, United Kingdom, Netherlands

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $2.3M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 3.4× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

37 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 3 countries: France, United Kingdom, Netherlands.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Peter Greenaway, shot by Sacha Vierny. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Michael Nyman. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor John Wilson shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Michael Gambon and Richard Bohringer and Helen Mirren carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Peter Greenaway directs. Sacha Vierny behind the camera. Michael Nyman scores. John Wilson cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in France, United Kingdom, Netherlands. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $2.3M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
2Made its money back 3.4× over at the box office.
337 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
4International production across 3 countries: France, United Kingdom, Netherlands.
5Directed by Peter Greenaway, shot by Sacha Vierny. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Michael Nyman. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor John Wilson shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Michael Gambon and Richard Bohringer and Helen Mirren carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "Lust...Murder...Dessert. Bon Appetit!".
10IMDB entry: tt0097108 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Classified under 19 themes, including "sadism", "sexuality", "allegory", "cooking".
12Released under 11 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Sacha Vierny
Original score: Michael Nyman
Editing: John Wilson
Production design: Ben van Os
Costume design: Jean-Paul Gaultier
Makeup / hair: Sjoerd Didden
Sound: Garth Marshall
Runtime: 124 min · 2h 4m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $2,300,000
Box office: $7,724,701
Return: 336% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NC-17
IMDB: The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989)

Awards

Sitges Film Festival Best cinematography
Sitges Film Festival Best Actor award
Sitges Film Festival Best Director award

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Peter Greenaway

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

talisencrw2016-05-02
★ 9/10
Having previously watched Greenaway's 'Prospero's Books', basically from the same era, one definitely gets a sense of the auteur, of great visualizing prowess in the Welsh native. I adore watching Helen Mirren from ANY era, but particularly here, in between the young adulthood beauty she displayed in Michael Powell's 'Age of Consent', through the remarkably absurd and audacious 'Caligula', straight to the sophisticated and very dangerous gorgeousness displayed in 'The Comfort of Strangers'. It's great to see any dude who's mean to a beautiful woman get their comeuppance (particularly the wealthy--it offers a sort of 'wish fulfillment' for the 99% of us), and the climax here is one of cinema's most articulate presentation of that phenomenon. It definitely made me wish to see the rest of both Greenaway's movies and of Mirren's performances. Well worth the acquired taste necessary for this sort of delicacy.

Production companies