The Belly of an Architect (1987)

• Year: 1987
• Released: 13 Jul 1990
• Country: United Kingdom, Italy
• Adwords: 2 nominations
• IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092637/
• Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_belly_of_an_architect
• Available in: 720p, 1080p,
• Language: English, Italian
• MPA Rating: R
• Genre: Drama
• Runtime: 119 min
• Writer: Peter Greenaway
• Director: Peter Greenaway
• Cast: Brian Dennehy, Chloe Webb, Lambert Wilson
• Keywords: rome, italy, older man younger woman relationship, illness, architect, architecture,

6.9/10

The Belly of an Architect Storyline

An American architect arrives in Italy, supervising an exhibition for a French architect, Boullée, who is famous for his oval structures. Through the course of 9 months he becomes obsessed with his belly, suffers severe stomach pains, loses his wife, exhibition, his unborn child and finally his own life.

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The Belly of an Architect Movie Reviews

A more straightforward Greenaway film but less interesting than most of his others

You always know going into a Peter Greenaway film that, for better or for worse, you are going to get something a bit left-field. The Belly of an Architect is really no different in this regard. This one tells the tale of an American architect who travels to Rome with his young wife to supervise an exhibition celebrating the 18th century architect Etienne-Louis Boullée. Very soon after arrival both he and his wife experience contrasting activity in their bellies, for him it is severe abdominal pains while she falls pregnant. To complicate matters, they soon begin affairs with other people. The film essentially then details the architects mental deterioration, which includes writing postcards to his long deceased doppelganger Boullée.

This one has to go down as one of Greenaway’s more accessible films. It has an actual story that is underpinned by a good central performance from Brian Dennehy. But its maybe the very fact that it skirts so close to realistic drama that is one of the main problems, as Greenaway is usually best when he does precisely the opposite. The story is really quite boring and the acting aside from Dennehy not all that good – Chloe Webb being particularly flat as his wife; look out also for Stefania (Suspiria) Cassini sporting an unfamiliar cropped 80’s barnet. The visuals, while certainly nicely composed, aren’t all that memorable. Given that the setting is Rome, there are many shots of that cities peerless architecture, although that all gets almost a bit travelogue to a certain extent. I think this film, therefore, is one for Greenaway devotees almost exclusively as in order to get a lot out of it you have to be interested in his ideas. While I have liked several of his films, I can’t deny that, even in the cases of the ones I liked most, his films can be somewhat annoying. Dennehy really helps draw us in to events though and makes a good stab at involving us but it’s difficult to care too much about these stiff characters populating a narrative that is both distant and very cold emotionally. Boullée himself is a typically absurd Greenaway figure, in that very little of his architecture ever came to be built, so it’s difficult to ever imagine a high profile retrospective of his work ever happening. His rounded, domed buildings mimic the belly of the title, as does his name. So there are many links and symmetries in the story if you are at all interested in that kind of thing. But, while some of the photography was nice and it did have a good score from one of the members of Kraftwerk, it was overall a little tedious for me.

Beautiful and Moving – Not Typical Greenaway’s Film

Dreamlike, beautifully shot by great Sasha Vernie and equally disturbing (as all Greenaway’s movies are), “The Belly of an Architect” (1987) tells the story of an American architect, Stourley Kracklite (Brian Dennehy) who came to Rome to work on the exhibition dedicated to the French architect of the 18th century, Etienne-Louis Boullee (1728 – 1799). Stourley brings with him his much younger wife Louisa with whom is passionately in love. Everything looks good for him – he’s got a project of his dreams to work on, his wife is with him, and his Italian colleagues seem to be supportive and exited about the exhibit as much as he is. Soon, though, the things begin to change and look rather grim – Stourley’s pregnant wife enters the affair with a younger man, the work does not move as quickly as it was planned and on the top of all, Stourley gets sick and perhaps more seriously than he thinks.

When I watch Peter Greenaway’s films, I know they will be a feast for brain, eyes, and ears – his films consist of frames so perfectly composed that you want to capture every moment of them and exclaim like Goethe’s Faust did, “Stay a while! You are so lovely!”. The music in his films matches the visual beauty perfectly, and his outlook at the familiar world is always original and arresting even if it lacks warmth and sentimentality. “The Belly of an Architect” is all that: it is filled with symbolism and references to history, Art, and anatomy. It is also a social satire on difference between cultures but it is a compelling and moving story of one man’s descending to chaos, hopelessness, despair, and eventually death. This is the first Greenaway’s movie since “The cook, The Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover” that made me feel compassion for its protagonist. I believe it is due to the incredible performance by Brian Dennehy – quite unusual name for a Greenaway’s film but was he great as the architect of the title. Dennehy creates a character that is not likable as the film begins but heartbreaking and tragic by the end.

8/10

distancing style

American architect Stourley Kracklite (Brian Dennehy) arrives in Italy to supervising an exhibition for French architect Boullée. His wife Louisa (Chloe Webb) seem to love him. He starts suffering from stomach pains and his life falls apart.

The camera style is set further away to take in the massive architecture of the locations. There are few close ups and often times, the characters are set small on the screen. It elevates Stourley’s isolation and detachment from the general humanity. There are few personal crowds. In fact, exteriors are mostly empty of people other than the other needed characters and traffic. It does make the movie a little distancing. It’s somewhat different and interesting. It’s also a little tiring which is the desired effects.