Tweet
Released by: Vinegar Syndrome
Released on: April 29th, 2025.
Director: Peter Greenaway
Cast: Brian Dennehy, Chloe Webb, Lambert Wilson, Sergio Fantoni, Stefania Casini
Year: 1987
Purchase From Amazon
The Belly Of An Architect – Movie Review:
Brian Dennehy (of F/X fame) plays an American architect named Stourley Kracklite. Stourley arrives in Rome, Italy for his latest job in which he will be supervising a new project focusing on the late Etienne-Louis Boullee, a famous French architect. He's not travelling alone though, his wife Louisa (Chloe Webb of Sid And Nancy) is along for the journey with him. Boullee has some renown in architectural circles for his specialty, which are oval structures, and it would seem like things are going very well for the couple what with Stourley now working on his dream project and all.
Soon after arriving in Rome though, Stourley begins to suffer from some very severe stomach pains. His stomach becomes so sore that he is unable to enjoy the city or its history at all and he becomes quite miserable. The more miserable he becomes the more suspicious he gets, and it isn't long before he begins to figure that his young wife, now pregnant with his child, is having an affair. He also thinks that the reason he's having these stomach pains is because she is poisoning him.
As Stourley's obsessions grow out of hand he begins to wander the historic buildings of Rome compulsively, maniacally photocopy architectural plans, and presume that his wife is cheating on him with the museum patron, Caspasian Speckler (Lambert Wilson of the two Matrix sequels). Caspasian, along with his sister, Flavia (Stefania Casini of Antonio Bido's The Bloodstained Shadow), begins to plot Stourley's end, and he spirals deeper into his own obsession and depression.
The Welsh born Greenaway has long been making deeply personal and often alienating films set in England, but this time out opts to set his film in Rome, where his keen visual eye captures the beauty and splendor of the city in style. His background as a painter is obvious in the setup and angles used in this film (as it is in many of his other works as well) and The Belly Of An Architect is simply gorgeous to look at, even if it is sometimes difficult to relate to the characters, at least from a social standpoint..
Brian Dennehy, here cast very much against type, excels in the lead and delivers a powerful performance that is both believable and moving in its convincing portrayal of a possibly deranged man about to lose it all. Those who are only familiar with his work in tough guy roles like F/X and First Blood should be suitably impressed with his turn here. Chloe Webb's character is interesting as well, and is both easy to sympathize with and also easy to despise given the turn of events that she sets into motion in the later part of the movie.
So, while it's not a high-octane blockbuster, Belly Of An Architect is an extremely well made and well-acted film with a compelling story that will reward those patient enough to let themselves be taken in by it all. It isn't the easiest film to get into - there are no explosions, gag jokes, or car chases – but this heady and serious drama is deserving of your time.
The Belly Of An Architect – Blu-ray Review:
The Belly Of An Architect debuts on region free Blu-ray from Vinegar Syndrome framed at 1.85.1 in an AVC encoded 1080p high-definition transfer ‘Newly scanned & restored in 2K from its 35mm original camera negative.’ It looks quite good, keeping in mind that a lot of the movie has always had a somewhat soft look. Colors look nice, skin tones are lifelike and accurate and black levels are strong. There’s good depth and detail to the image and it always looks like proper film, retaining grain and never showing any noticeable noise reduction or edge enhancement issues. Print damage is never problematic, and overall, this is a pretty solid picture.
Audio chores are handled by an English language track language 24-bit DTS-HD 2.0 Stereo track with optional subtitles offered up in English only for each track. Audio quality is fine. There's a tiny bit of sibilance in one or two spots but otherwise the audio is clean, clear and properly balanced with a fair bit of depth to the score and easily discernable dialogue.
Extras start off with a commentary track with film historians Eugenio Ercolani and Tony Strauss offering up plenty of details on the film. It goes over the intercutting of the opening scene that contrasts the sex on the train with a cemetery and what this represents, details on the different cast and crew members that worked on the picture, some of the landmarks and interesting pieces of architecture used in the film and how this creates geometry and symmetry in the movie, the influence of art and painting on the narrative, the character arcs that fill the film, Greenaway's love of painting and art school training, the cinematography employed in the feature, how this movie compares to Greenaway's other films and quite a bit more.
Stately Progress is an eighteen-minute interview with editor John Wilson on Peter Greenaway and The Belly of an Architect. He talks about his background and education, how he got into editing, connecting with Greenaway at the Central Office Of Information and what he was like to work with, the specifics of collaborating on this feature, his initial work with the director on The Draftsman's Contract, what makes the task of editing a Greenaway film different from other filmmakers' work, the use of photocopies and illustrations in the film, the film's score, the specifics of what went into cutting certain scenes for the movie, how the film was received upon release and how he feels about it decades after editing it.
Caput Mundi is a twenty-eight-minute interview with architect Gianpaolo Ercolani (who is joined by a pretty cool cat!) that covers Greenaway's love of Rome and his history with the city, the use of architecture in the feature and what makes it stand out, thoughts on the performances in the movie and the characters that populate it, details on some of the architectural pieces featured in the film, the use of color in the film and what that use of color represents, the themes that run through the film and more.
This release comes packaged with some nice reversible cover sleeve artwork and, if purchased from the Vinegar Syndrome website, a limited-edition spot varnish slipcover designed by Steak Mtn. limited to 3,000 copies. Also included inside the case alongside the disc is an insert booklet containing an essay titled ‘The Cenotaph And The Cake’ by Scout Tafoya.
The Belly Of An Architect – The Final Word:
The Belly Of An Architect is a beautifully made film with lush visuals and an interesting, character-based story. Vinegar Syndrome offers up this underrated film in a very nice edition with a great presentation and some interesting extras. Recommended.
