8 1/2 WOMEN (1999) Reviewed by Jerry Saravia RATING: One star and a half June 16th, 2002
Nope, this is not lost footage from Federico Fellini's own masterpiece, "8 1/2." This is Peter Greenaway's thoroughly underimagined, papier-mache account of old age and sexual pleasures called "8 1/2 Women." I have found most of Greenaway's films to be risky, shocking yet always mesmerizing and unforgettable. This film is sheerly dumb and valueless - an attempt to be comical and daring and succeeding only in being wanting in every sense of the word.
Fitting in with today's standards that sex matters more than anything, we are introduced to Philip Emmenthal (John Standing), a rich man living at his Geneva estate where his wife has just died. Joining him in his grieving process is his son, Storey (Sacha Vierny), who attempts to relieve his father's depression through sexual pleasure. The first attempt is through incest. Though it is implied, it is always clear that incest is an attempt (lest you think that fathers and sons do sleep together naked). After father and son watch Fellini's "8 1/2," they both decide that bringing eight women to the estate to have sex with and be ogled by is a far more successful venture. Some of the women they choose are gambling addicts, nuns, females as female impersonators (!), housekeepers, nymphos, and so on. One woman always gets pregnant and another one, representing the half., is in a wheelchair with no arms or legs. Oh, yes, and how can I forget the woman who rides horses naked (played by none other than Amanda Plummer). The most interesting woman is the nymphomaniac (Polly Walker) who claims to have slept with Philip long ago.
The idea for the film, sexual adventures in an estate with different women who have their own reasons for participating, is a novel one that could build with an erotic, comical charge. But Greenaway is the wrong director for a dark comedy of this type - at times, I felt like I was watching a weird Merchant Ivory production minus the wit. There are some shocking scenes of sexual byplay (like what happens when Phlip has sex with a woman who just had her period) but none of it is likely to seem the least bit erotic or playful to anyone. Greenaway is just interested in shocking the audience and places great emphasis on that prized male reproductive organ, but for what purpose exactly? Every major chapter is introduced by descriptions from the screenplay, but for what reason exactly?
Peter Greenaway is a fascinatingly complex director and sheerly audacious, but this "8 1/2 Women" is just marking time in being outrageous and touching on taboo subjects. There is plenty of nudity to spare but since the story is nonexistent and the acting borders on the extremely mannered, there is nothing left to look at. A major disappointment for Greenaway fans.
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