Paul Walker Movie:

		List Price: $24.98		Label: Universal Studios Salesrank: 131316 Released: October 10, 2000
		Our Price: $38.88
		Used Price: $5.75
		MPAA Rating: R (Restricted) Media: DVD

8 1/2 Women Reviews:
Don't buy this
2009-01-18 - God this movie was awful. it was confusing and stupid. I could barely follow or understand what what happening. I only bought it because Toni Collette was in it. It was a waste of money!!

Bizarre sexual comedy
2009-01-08 - There's a kind of French farce/Marquis de Sade/Japanese porn feel to this self-indulgent romp from Brit auteur Peter Greenaway. It's kind of a "God, I'm bored and I've got so much money and what the heck let's turn the Geneva mansion into a bordello, a different woman in every room and Dad and I will have lots of fun and bond" thing. "I mean mom's gone now, Dad, and you never really got out and now it's time to live." So father and son go naked a lot with lots of babes who are also naked a lot.

Matthew Delamere (Storey) is the son and John Standing (Philip) is the father. It's a bit creepy seeing them sharing the same bed naked. In fact it's a bit creepy seeing John Standing naked, period. But that's part of the Greenaway intent. Let's shock the bourgeoisie. It's such fun to do stuff that will make them squirm.

They hissed at Cannes when this was shown (I understand; I wasn't there). It was first released in the Czech Republic, which says something, but I'm not sure what. It was banned in Malaysia--but that's pretty standard. The women are bizarre but, to be honest, intriguing. The story isn't much of a story. The rationale for suddenly taking on the life of the libertine is slight (Philip's wife dies) and a bit late in the coming. (And no pun intended.)

The story starts in Tokyo with Storey helping Simato, a pachinko addict played by Annie Shizuka Inoh, avoid financial trouble in exchange for sexual favors. But never mind. As I said, the story doesn't matter. What matters is the outrageousness of the events (mostly sexual) and the beautiful sets. That's it.
Most interesting thing in the film is Polly Walker who has both sex appeal and charisma. Most grotesque is that pig with its pinkish white skin so very human looking--and of course that was a sight joke and a comment upon humanity. But again, never mind.

By the way, the 8 1/2 in the title is because Fellini's famous film somehow inspired Storey and Philip toward their debauchery.

An Erotic Comedy Inspired by a Fellini Classic.
2008-09-24 - "If every man thinks of sex once every nine minutes, what does he think of the other eight?"

In the spirit of full disclosure, I was motivated to watch Peter Greenaway's 8½ Women only because a love interest played a minor character in the beautiful erotic comedy. Filmed in Luxembourg, the 1999 film tells the story of 55-year-old businessman Philip Emmenthal (John Standing) and his Pachinko Parlor playboy son Storey (Matthew Delamere) who, inspired by Federico Fellini's 8 1/2, decide to open a bordello in Geneva. They sign one-year contracts with eight (and a half) women. Three are from Kyoto, and each has an unusual persona: a nun, a child bearer, a gambler, a Kabuki student, a horsewoman with a pet pig, and a maid. Soon, however, the concubines begin to assert their own power. Not among Greenaway's best films (The Draughtsman's Contract) and perhaps not the best film for those uninitiated in Greenaway, 8½ Women is nevertheless enjoyable and highly recommended.

G. Merritt

Heaven
2006-10-19 - Peter Greenaway's films are always interesting. He's got his own provocative style. Whether it was retelling Shakespeare's "The Tempest" with an all-nude cast as in "Prospero's Books" or the nudity in "The Pillow Book" where a woman enjoys having people write on her body, you can rest assured that someone will probably disrobe before the end of the picture. In "8 & 1/2 Women," English actor John Standing whose career has ranged from "The Elephant Man" in 1980 to "V for Vendetta" in 2006 plays the head of a large corporation. As Philip Emmenthal he acquires panchinko parlors in Japan with strong-arm business tactics. Unfortunately, his wife passes away early in the film. This leaves Emmenthal grieving -- not for his wife necessarily but for someone to hold him. His son Storey flies home from Kyoto, Japan to the Emmenthal estate in Geneva, Switzerland. To comfort his grieving father, Storey takes off all his clothes and sleeps with his father. The two then go to see Fellini's film "8 & 1/2" and discuss whether it's normal for a son to sleep with his father. Even for the more liberal viewers, this is pretty strange. Philip & Storey then decide that what they need is a lot of women -- eight and a half, to be precise -- to distract the father. Vivian Wu who was in "The Pillow Book" as well as "The Last Emperor" & "The Joy Luck Club" plays a crazed panchinko addict who agrees to pay off her debts by sleeping with the pair. She flies to Geneva. Simato played by Shizuka Inoh in the only film I could find listed for her plays the Japanese business mind that has some control issues. She flies to Geneva. Toni Collette who was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for "The Sixth Sense" in 1999 plays a nun who shaves her head (and other parts) and tries to gain salvation for Philip while wearing no clothes. In rides Beryl on a horse. Beryl is played by Emmy-winner Amanda Plummer who won her award for "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" in 2005. Storey honks the horn, which makes the horse rear up & results in a severe back injury to Beryl. After returning the stolen horse, they adopt her and put her in a sheer plastic brace that allows Philip to massage the private parts on her chest while she recovers. Plummer stays on scene until she rides off like Lady Godiva through the fields. Polly Walker who did a great job in "Eye of the Killer" and was nominated for a Golden Globe in 2005 for the TV mini-series "Rome" plays Palmira, the seductive temptress with a high pain threshold. As odd as it sounds, the major theme I found was about the existence of God. At the end of the film, Philip is getting a nude massage that he equates to heaven and then passes peacefully. Palmira then refers to him as "the Almighty." Thus, for me, the film was about people who worship at the altar of their own bodies rather than seeking eternal truths such as Truth, Beauty & Goodness. That said, the film is beautifully shot. As the son Storey, Matthew Delamere who was in "Under the Skin" with Samantha Morton is a rather flat actor, both in body and emotional capability. If the film is not a success, I think it was because there wasn't more range in this lead actor. However, one must certainly admit that he had no hesitancy in walking around sans wardrobe. This is an interesting film, not entirely likeable, not completely moving, but worth an evening's viewing when the children are NOT around! Enjoy!

Mixed Effort From A Great Filmmaker
2005-04-12 - Peter Greenaway's films are always a challenge, even for his most devoted admirers. I am a member of that group. I traveled 90 minutes each way to see his new film '8 1/2 Women'. His films are incredibly (really, an understatement) complex, both visually and narratively. Like most filmmakers, he has his ups ('The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover', 'The Pillow Book', 'Drowning By Numbers' and 'The Draughtsman's Contract') and his downs ('A Zed and Two Naughts', 'Belly of An Architect'). Unfortunately, '8 1/2 Women' is not one of his best.

I read a review of the film that stated it was his most accessible in years. Yes, I can see that. This means that Greenaway has stripped away six or seven layers of narrative that usually happen concurrently in his best films. He has dumbed down the visual style while retaining a story that is not very focused.

We seem to be experiencing a bit of a trend. Some of the most intelligent filmmakers are dumbing down their work to reach a new audience while dissatisfying their core audience. Woody Allen's latest film is a farce with none of the depth he is known for. The result? 'Small Time Crooks' will probably be his most successful film in years. Robert Towne created an overly simplistic blueprint for the stunts in 'Mission Impossible 2'. The result? The screenplay works, but the audience is told the core of the mission six times. Now Greenaway directs a film with one layer of narrative, robbing his own film of the richness and depth he has done before. What's next? Martin Scorcese directing Leonardo DiCaprio? Oh, that's actually happening.

If you have never seen a Peter Greenaway film, and most of you probably haven't, a little background is probably in order. Greenaway is a painter and spent some time doing set design for operas. He brings both of these sensibilities to his films. When the film is good, it is a glorious mixture of all of these elements creating truly beautiful films. His longtime cinematographer, Sacha Vierny, is a great asset to the visual style. He also likes to experiment with words and narrative. For instance, the beginning of 'The Pillow Book' combined a layer of film that had Japanese Calligraphy, the writing of the Pillow Book, and two separate scenes going on on top of that. Your eye is always watching something. Your mind is always working. In 'Drowning By Numbers', the numbers 1 through 100 appear in the actual film in some form or another. In 'The Cook, The Thief...', each separate room in an elaborate restaurant has a color scheme of it's own, affecting the color of the character's clothing. '8 1/2 Women' makes a brief attempt at combining various elements, showing pieces of the screenplay with insets of pachinko parlors. The rest of the film is set in a single estate. Frankly, most of the film appeared grainy.

A rich Geneva banker and pachinko parlor owner mourns the loss of his wife. His son tries to comfort his father and suggests, after watching Fellini's '8 1/2', that they fill the house with a harem of women. This will help the father to experience the variety of sexual activity that he has recently discovered and also make the house seem less empty. The pachinko parlors are really a very weak point of the story. It seems to merely serve as a method for Greenaway to introduce Asian females into the story line.

As the father and son populate the harem (with the likes of Amanda Plummer, Toni Collette, Vivian Wu and Polly Walker), they talk incessantly. In most of Greenaway's works, the characters have lengthy conversations, but they were far more interesting. He seems to be trying to shock us with words rather than images in this film. Yes, there is a lot of nudity, both male and female, but it doesn't shock. The discussions they have concerning beastiality, incest, etc., are simply boring.

His films also take a while to make it to the US. Because of this, he frequently can attract up and coming stars to appear in his films, usually nude, before they are really famous. As I mentioned, Toni Collette (Best Supporting Actress nominee for 'The Sixth Sense', 'Muriel's Wedding') appears in the film as a Swedish nun. In 'The Pillow Book', Ewan McGregor played a central part. He has also had Ralph Fiennes and Julia Ormond in his films.

Greenaway has created some of the best films I have ever seen and experienced. Greenaway is a master filmmaker and definitely deserves a larger audience. Unfortunately, this film isn't that good.