The Belly of an Architect 1987 M
The Belly of an Architect 1987 M
35MM, COLOUR, DOLBY, 119 MINUTES, UK / ITALY, ENGLISH, ITALIAN (ENGLISH SUBTITLES) / DIRECTOR/SCRIPT: PETER GREENAWAY / CINEMATOGRAPHER: SACHA VIERNY / EDITOR: JOHN WILSON / ART DIRECTION: LUCIANA VEDOVELLI LEVI / COSTUME DESIGN: MAUIZIO MILLENOTTI / PRODUCTION CO: BRITISH SCREEN HEMDALE, CALLENDAR COMPANY, CHANNEL FOUR FILMS, FILM FOUR INTERNATIONAL, MONDIAL, SACIS, TANGRAM FILM / PRINT SOURCE: METRO-GOLDWYN-MAYER / RIGHTS: HOLLYWOOD CLASSICS
‘What I like about [Étienne-Louis] Boullée is that nothing of his is materialised: his work consisted of dreams on paper.’ Peter Greenaway, Positif, April 1986
The Belly of an Architect focuses on the story of architect Stourley Kracklite (Brian Dennehy) who is dying of stomach cancer and organising an exhibition in Rome on the work of extraordinary French architect Étienne-Louis Boullée. Like Boullée, Kracklite spends more time on uncompleted projects, producing visionary drawings rather than actual buildings. His fear of failure becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy; the exhibition he is preparing faces obstacles by the Machiavellian schemes of Italian businessmen and his own physical decline. Throughout the film, Peter Greenaway explores the loss of integrity caused by art’s involvement with business. Playing with the symmetry between depth and surface, and recreating the architect’s dream of an ideal balance, the film is structured around the figure 7 – the seven Roman buildings that were a major inspirations for Boullée’s visionary architectural plans.
Contact: Wed 16 Sept 6.00pm / Cinema A
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