When churlish mobster Albert Spica acquires an upscale French restaurant in London, he dines there nightly, effectively scaring off the clientele with his bad manners. His wife, Georgina, is especially disgusted by him, and soon begins an affair with regular guest Michael. Despite their best efforts to keep it secret, Spica learns about their trysts, and he plots a terrible revenge.
| Tagline | Lust...Murder...Dessert. Bon Appetit! |
| Release Date: | Oct 13, 1989 |
| Genres: | Crime, Drama |
| Production Company: | Allarts, Elsevier-Vendex Film Beheer, Allarts Cook, Erato Films, Film4 Productions, Erbograph Co. |
| Production Countries: | France, United Kingdom |
| Casts: | Michael Gambon, Richard Bohringer, Helen Mirren, Alan Howard, Tim Roth, Ciarán Hinds, Liz Smith, Gary Olsen, Ewan Stewart, Roger Ashton-Griffiths, Ian Dury |
| Status: | Released |
| Budget: | $2300000 |
| Revenue: | 7724701 |
Having previously watched Greenaway's 'Prospero's Books', basically from the same era, one definitely gets a sense of the auteur, of great visualizing prowess in the Welsh native. I adore watching Helen Mirren from ANY era, but particularly here, in between the young adulthood beauty she displayed in Michael Powell's 'Age of Consent', through the remarkably absurd and audacious 'Caligula', straight to the sophisticated and very dangerous gorgeousness displayed in 'The Comfort of Strangers'. It's great to see any dude who's mean to a beautiful woman get their comeuppance (particularly the wealthy--it offers a sort of 'wish fulfillment' for the 99% of us), and the climax here is one of cinema's most articulate presentation of that phenomenon. It definitely made me wish to see the rest of both Greenaway's movies and of Mirren's performances. Well worth the acquired taste necessary for this sort of delicacy.
