
Greenaway’s lavish 1989 film was chosen by artists Alex Da Corte and Jayson Musson to be screened in conjunction with their exhibition Easternsports. A Jacobean revenge allegory for Thatcherite Britain, The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover’s mise en abyme conceit includes long, choreographed takes by legendary cinematographer Sacha Vierny set to Michael Nyman’s pulsing score. Actors Helen Mirren, Michael Gambon, and other Royal Shakespeare Company alumni are costumed in elaborate designs by couturier Jean Paul Gaultier, whose sculptural clothing changes colors as characters move from room to room on set. Violent, scatological, and sexual, the film’s distributor, Miramax, self-selected NR for its full, uncut US theatrical release—presented here on film—though poorly edited R-rated VHS copies were standard in the US rental market for many years. With an introduction by Da Corte, Musson, and ICA curator Kate Kraczon.
LOCATION
International House Philadelphia, 3701 Chestnut Street (directions)
Alex Da Corte and Jayson Musson: EasternsportsAlex Da Corte and Jayson Musson in Conversation with Michael Smith