![]() ![]() In order to complete this transition, Georgina’s clothes are color coded simultaneously within a single scene. Also, the first transition of Georgina from the dining room to the bathroom immediately soothes the eye due to the saturated white. Most notably in one of the opening sequences when the camera moves from the location of the kitchen to the dining room, the change of saturated hue immediately affects the eye and the stylized set becomes surreal. The color washes are incredibly saturated to accentuate the effect of color on the eye, to provoke the visceral reactions from the observer as the camera switches between different spaces. This is the first time that he wears anything other than chef’s white.”Ĭolor has been used by Greenaway in CTWL to also neutralize environments to create focus for the characters and also add a surreal quality to the scene. His black tuxedo not only marks the final scene as ceremonial but also identifies the theme of change as momentous for the entire film. Even when he is naked, his skin has a light brown hue, in the raw and in the cooked state… Richard the cook undergoes a transformation, too, from passive observer to active participant. In the long and complicated opening sequence, Georgina’s dress appears black to Albert although she calls it dark blue it is green in the kitchen, red in the dining room, and white in the bathroom. He had worn the same suit every evening, and this consistency distinguishes him from other characters that undergo a series of costume changes even within the same scene. ![]() ![]() “In the film, all characters that do not change die those who adapt survive… Michael, whose habits and dress had been most regular, also dies. Greenaway emphasizes this through the process of cooking and also by giving static or dynamic qualities to the characters through color. ![]() In this way, transformation itself as an issue is important. This film is highly invested in the metamorphosis of Georgina from a victim to an avenger. The use of color to emphasize or distinguish continues with the characters themselves rather than just the spaces of the restaurant. Even though, this is the place where Georgina and Michael commit adultery, the white color emphasizes respite and peacefulness. The bathroom is heavenly white and there is an innate quality of comfort and reassurance that emanates from this place. The kitchen is a faint green which changes its quality from orderly to chaotic depending upon the situation. The dining hall which is the setting for Spica’s bursts of anger and misbehavior amongst a tense public atmosphere is red. It is also the place where the two trucks of meat refused by the chef rot away giving out an almost visible fetid stench. The exterior, where Spica is shown torturing in the early scene is dark blue and looks sinister in its setting. the restaurant has its own specific color scheme. As he complies, before Albert starts choking, Georgina shoots him in the head.Įach area of the main setting, i.e. She convinces Borst to cook Michael’s body and forces Spica to eat it. After discovering the body of Michael, Georgina becomes stricken with grief and prepares to confront Spica with a morbid revenge. The two lovers carry on their dangerous relationship within the restaurant with the help of Borst until Spica discovers it and has Michael tortured and killed by shoving down pages of ‘The French Revolution’ down his throat. Borst and his staff help Georgina conduct an illicit relationship with one of the patrons at the restaurant, Michael (Alan Howard) who is a bookkeeper. Most of the film is set inside a high class French restaurant – La Hollandais, which Spica has recently taken over and is run by its resident chef, Richard Borst (Richard Bohringer). Greenaway’s CTWL can be understood as the transformation of an abused and tortured woman, Georgina (Helen Mirren), married to a ruthless and sadistic gangster Albert Spica (Michael Gambon). Particular strategies such as using color coding to represent diverse spaces, increasing saturation levels and relationship of color with food shall be identified to reveal them as potent tools for manipulating emotions of the film observers. This post will analyze the use of color as a metaphor for transformation in the film “The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover” (1989, abbreviated hereafter as CTWL) by Peter Greenaway. ![]()
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