The Belly of an Architect (1987)
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91% of critics liked it
(11 reviews) -
79% of users liked it
(3,650 ratings)
American architect Stourley Kracklite (Brian Dennehy) comes with his young wife Louisa (Chloe Webb) to Rome to supervise an exhibition devoted to Etienne-Louis Boullée, a French architect of the 18th century. Suffering from severe abdominal pains, Stourley doesn't pay much attention to his… More American architect Stourley Kracklite (Brian Dennehy) comes with his young wife Louisa (Chloe Webb) to Rome to supervise an exhibition devoted to Etienne-Louis Boullée, a French architect of the 18th century. Suffering from severe abdominal pains, Stourley doesn't pay much attention to his pregnant wife, and she finds consolation in the arms of suave Caspasian Speckler (Lambert Wilson). Built from rigidly symmetrical images, the film has quite an unusual subject: the belly -- both the sick one of the architect and the pregnant one of his wife, the rounded forms alluding to the spherical constructions designed by Boullée, the architect whose visionary projects seldom materialized. Beautifully shot on location in Rome, this ironic fable wittily examines the issues of artistic creativity. ~ Yuri German, Rovi
- Directed By
- Peter Greenaway
- Written By
- Peter Greenaway
- Genres
- Drama, Comedy, Special Interest
R,
- In Theaters
- Jan 1, 1987 Wide
Critic Reviews
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Rob Gonsalves, eFilmCritic.com
Dennehy achieves Brando-esque emotional power.
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Nick Davis, Nick's Flick Picks
There's a good deal here to relish, even if the piece as a whole eventually descends into the same hermetic serialism of motifs that has consumed most of Greenaway's pictures.
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Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice
Brian Dennehy gives a towering performance as a middle-aged architect in Rome on a special project that becomes an obsession.
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Jake Euker, Filmcritic.com
The most telling parallel is that between Kracklite, with his perpetual stomach upset, and director Greenaway: Both are pretentious gasbags.
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Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)
Not one of Greenaway's more successful efforts
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
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Cast
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Brian Dennehy
as Stourley Kracklite
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Chloe Webb
as Louisa Kracklite
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Lambert Wilson
as Caspasian Speckler
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Sergio Fantoni
as Io Speckler
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Stefania Casini
as Flavia Speckler
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Vanni Corbellini
as Frederico
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Alfredo Varelli
as Julio Ficcone
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Francesco Carnelutti
as Pastarri
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Rita Furlan
as Violinist
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Stefano Gragnani
as The Nose Man
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Julian Jenkins
as Old Doctor
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Marne Maitland
as Battistino
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Marino Masé
as Trettorio
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Andrea Prodan
as Young Doctor
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Fabio Sartor
as Policeman
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Enrica Maria Scrivano
as Mother
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Claudio Spadaro
as Mori
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Riccardo Ussani
as Little Boy
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Geoffrey Copleston
as Caspetti
