The Baby of Mâcon (1993)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Peter Greenaway

Writer:

Peter Greenaway (writer)

Release Date:

17 September 1993 (UK)

Genre:

Drama | History

Plot:

A movie about the corruption in all levels of society. A baby is born from a supposed-to-be virgin woman...

Plot Keywords:

Baby | Disturbing | Brutality | Bizarre | Childbirth

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Julia Ormond	...	The Daughter
Ralph Fiennes	...	The Bishop's Son
Philip Stone	...	The Bishop
Jonathan Lacey	...	Cosimo Medici
Don Henderson	...	The Father Confessor
Celia Gregory	...	Mother Superior
Jeff Nuttall	...	The Majordomo
Jessica Hynes	...	The First Midwife (as Jessica Stevenson)
Kathryn Hunter	...	The Second Midwife
Gabrielle Reidy	...	The Third Midwife
Frank Egerton	...	The Prompter
Phelim McDermott	...	The First Tutor
Tony Vogel	...	The Father
Tatiana Strauss	...	The First Nun
Louisa Millwood-Haigh	...	The Second Nun
Anna Nieland	...	The Wet Nurse
Graham Valentine	...	Famine
Diana Van Kolck	...	The Mother
Leslie Cuss	...	The Second Tutor
Rien Kroon	...	The Chaplain
Jan Sepers	...	Carpaccio
Nils Dorando	...	The Baby of Macon
Richard Blair	...	The First Soldier
Tony Dunham	...	The Second Soldier
Humphrey Sallons	...	Cosimo's Servant
Dennis Rudge	...	Entourage Servant
Hans Bosch	...	Entourage Servant
Sjoerd Ghijssen	...	Entourage Servant
Michiel Riedijk	...	Entourage Servant
Bert Sevenhuijsen	...	The Deacon
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
John Hartnett	...	Cynical auction bidder (uncredited)
Bastian Pastewka	...	Laborer (uncredited)
Dela Maria Vaags	...	Choir Farmer's Wives (uncredited)

Directed by
Peter Greenaway

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Peter Greenaway		writer

Produced by
Christoph Hahnheiser	....	line producer (as Christoph Hahnbeiser)
Frank Henschke	....	line producer
Kees Kasander	....	producer
Yves Marmion	....	co-producer
Jean-Louis Piel	....	associate producer
Denis Wigman	....	executive producer
Roland Wigman	....	associate producer

Non-Original Music by
Claudio Monteverdi		(from opera "L'Orfeo")

Cinematography by
Sacha Vierny

Film Editing by
Chris Wyatt

Casting by
Abi Cohen

Production Design by
Ben van Os
Jan Roelfs

Set Decoration by
Bavo Defurne

Costume Design by
Ellen Lens
Dien van Straalen

Makeup Department
Birger Laube	....	special makeup effects artist
Sara Meerman	....	makeup artist
Linda Mooney	....	key hair designer
Linda Mooney	....	key makeup artist
Luk Van Cleemput	....	assistant hair stylist

Production Management
Corinne Le Hong	....	assistant production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Tanja Däberitz	....	second assistant director
Jeroen Planting	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Boris Bartholomäus	....	constructor
Edu Calicher	....	set dresser
Gregor Hees	....	carpenter
Elmer Jacobs	....	set constructor
John Rawsthorn	....	painter
Todd Van Hulzen	....	propmaker
Todd Van Hulzen	....	scenic artist
Ben Zuydwijk	....	painter

Sound Department
Diane Greaves	....	foley artist
Nigel Heath	....	sound editor
Mathew Knights	....	sound editor
Garth Marshall	....	sound mixer
Jack Stew	....	foley artist

Camera and Electrical Department
François Hernandez	....	assistant camera
Nico Komen	....	key grip
Frank Marggraf	....	electrician
Chris Renson	....	camera operator

Casting Department
Clemens Erbach	....	casting: Germany

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Bernadette Corstens	....	wardrobe mistress

Other crew
Han Ing Lim	....	location manager
Marie-Christine Malbert	....	publicist
Kerstin Mehle	....	location manager
Trix van Alphen	....	publicist

Production Companies

• Black Forest Films
• Channel Four Films
• CiBy 2000

Distributors

• Cine Company S.A. (Spain)
• CinemArt (Czech Republic)

Other Companies

• Sapex Scripts  post-production services

Also Known As:

Das Wunder von Macon (Germany)

Runtime:

122 min

Country:

UK | France | Germany | Belgium | Netherlands

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Finland:K-16 (cut) (1996) | Finland:K-18 (uncut) (1993) | Australia:R | France:-16 | New Zealand:R18 | Portugal:M/18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | Iceland:16

Filming Locations:

Germany

Company:

Black Forest Films

Trivia:

The last cinema film of Philip Stone.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Tulse Luper Suitcases, Part 2: Vaux to the Sea (2004)

Examine the director's aims behind the film not just the content

This is one of (if not THE) most controversial films Peter Greenaway has ever made. Having become something of a media darling, first with "The Draughtsman's Contract", but mainly after "The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover" and "Prospero's Books" the British media turned against Greenaway when "The Baby of Macon" was released in 1993. This fact is all the more ironic since the central theme of the film is the danger of celebrity and the way in which people are built up so they can be knocked down at a later stage in their careers.

"The Baby of Macon" is not necessarily an easy film to watch and many viewers may not find it to their taste, due in part to the powerful imagery Greenaway utilises within the film. The infamous gang rape of Julia Ormand's character is what everyone comments on, although I think it's very well handled and for the majority of the time the camera focuses on the other characters around the stage (a similar process to the way the camera pans left to a corner of the warehouse when Michael Madsen slices the cop's ear off in Tarantino's "Reservoir Dogs") rather than the rape itself.

It seemed to me at the time (as it does now) that the majority of film critics who dismissed the film missed the point of it all. All too often so-called popular film critics merely discuss films in terms of whether they personally enjoy them or not, rather than examining a director's motives and aims in making a particular film and whether those objectives have been achieved. In my opinion, Greenaway does succeed in hitting his marks in "The Baby of Macon" and manages to make some very important points about society in a powerful and challenging film, which will not however leave the viewer with that 'feelgood' feeling that they get from a film like, say, "Titanic".