"If Greenaway's script can be reckoned as bland and unfocused, like a piece of spent chewing gum, even the belly fascination peters out without any fuss. His visual formalism finds a fertile ground in "the Eternal City" (a supper banquet in front of the Pantheon, the Roman Forum, Mausoleum of Augustus, Colosseo Quadrato, Piazza Navona, Piazza Venezia and Victor Emmanuel II Monument, the latter is where the eventual exhibition takes palce) and its environs (Villa Adriana in Tivoli). His painterly affinity and inspiration is effused onto the film's mise en scène and composition, expressed in striking colorways, for example, color green is often associated with Stourley, suggesting his cuckolded misfortune.
As if Greenaway is obliviously entranced by the magnificence of Rome, he simply wants to make a film in the city, to capture its astounding centuries-old architectonic accomplishments, ergo, the story itself becomes sort of a second banana. His "death in Rome" jeremiad is all over bar the shouting when Stourley raises Cain towards two dining ladies, it is his death rattle, all hat and no cattle."
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As if Greenaway is obliviously entranced by the magnificence of Rome, he simply wants to make a film in the city, to capture its astounding centuries-old architectonic accomplishments, ergo, the story itself becomes sort of a second banana. His "death in Rome" jeremiad is all over bar the shouting when Stourley raises Cain towards two dining ladies, it is his death rattle, all hat and no cattle."
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