Synopsis
After the death of his wife, wealthy businessman Philip Emmenthal and his son Storey open their own private harem in their family residence in Geneva (they get the idea while watching Federico Fellini's 8½ and after Storey is "given" a woman, Simato (Inoh), to waive her pachinko debts). They sign one-year contracts with eight (and a half) women to this effect. The women each have a gimmick (one is a nun, another a kabuki performer, etc.). Philip soon becomes dominated by his favourite of the concubines, Palmira, who has no interest in Storey as a lover, despite what their contract might stipulate. Philip dies, the concubines' contracts expire, and Storey is left alone with Giulietta (the titular "½", played by Fujiwara) and of course the money and the houses.
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Cast
- John StandingPhilip Emmenthal
- Matthew DelamereStorey Emmenthal
- Vivian WuKito
- Annie Shizuka InohSimato
- Toni ColletteGriselda
- Claire JohnstonAmelia, Philip's Wife
- Polly WalkerPalmira
- Amanda PlummerBeryl
- Elizabeth BerringtonCeleste
- Don WarringtonSimon
Recommendations
- 70
Dallas Observer
It may be his (Greenaway's) breeziest and kindest-hearted effort to date. - 63
Miami Herald
With its convoluted pretentiousness, heavy use of metaphors and obscure references to art, fails to maintain interest. - 50
Los Angeles Times
A nod to Fellini--and that "half" turns out to be a typically dark Greenaway twist. Yet this film, one of Greenaway's most amusing and accessible, actually arrives at moments of tenderness, even love, fleeting though they may be. - 40
TV Guide Magazine
Though his film is breathtakingly art-directed, Greenaway wallows in epater le bourgeois nastiness -- his inner naughty child could use a good paddling. - 40
The New York Times
Its message is quite simple and all too familiar: when it comes to sex, all men are little boys. - 38
Baltimore Sun
Greenaway's film is about making people's jaws drop. - 25
San Francisco Examiner
It's downright boring. - 20
Film.com
This anti-narrative screwball comedy, a sort of police-drama re-enactment of Fellini's themes in "8 1/2," keeps most of the jokes off-screen.
