Did Mr. Greenaway's symmetrical script undergo modification during pre-production? Is this the story of an Anglo-Saxon man in a mid-life crisis entrapped in a delirious paranoid nightmare in the heart of 'latin' sexuality? The young Italian architect (Caspasian) is played by a French actor who has, it is true, a Roman nose. It embarrasses to see Mr. Greenaway's very British prep. school preoccupations with 'foreigners' surface in such a supposedly intellectual exercise as this. At least 'A zed and Two Naughts' was 'camp' and somewhat funny. Mr. Greenaway remains an eager film student trying to provoke mediocre coffee-table critics into a superficial cock-fight. Resnais is a cut above all this. All respect to Brian Dennehy. The Scene with the young doctor was nicely handled.
Review of The Belly of an Architect
