The most underrated "controversial art film" of the last 50 years

Stay_away_from_the_Metropol

I just finished watching this and honestly I am completely astounded that I have never heard this film referenced a single time in my entire life.

I am 35 years old. I was born in 1985. In high school I saw the film Ravenous and Michael Nyman's score has remained my favorite film score of all time since then. Fast forward 15 years and I acquire one friend who knows Michael Nyman. We listen to more of his scores - first, A Zed & Two Noughts, then The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, & Her Lover. He suggests I watch some Peter Greenaway. A year later, I finally watch The Cook, and it instantly becomes one of my all time favorite films.

Tonight, I watched The Baby of Macon, knowing only that it was considered a masterpiece by some but primarily regarded too controversial for most upon it's release. Well, it blew me away, and I must say, it is fully understandable why it was perceived as so controversial. This gets very graphic, very heavy conceptually, and even adds extra discomfort with some Michael Haneke-esque 4th wall play.

Peter Greenaway is one of the true masters of film as an ultimate art form. When you watch a Greenaway film, you get stimulation on all angles - spectacular sets, costumes, cinematography all unlike you have ever seen - immense performances, daring & challenging concepts, and, to top it all off, eerily dramatic soundtracks - some of the best i've ever heard. All the signature Greenaway elements are here, firing on all cylinders.

Julia Ormond a is beautiful and fantastic lead, effectively delivering a role that manages to make the viewer equally love and despise her. Fiennes lays out his usual stoicism and sternness. Mr. Grady from The Shining has an important role as well. All in the all, the entire cast is intense and jarring. All tasteful and impressive.

It's hard to say much else about this film other than the only things I could ever compare it to are the works of Alejandro Jodorowsky and Ken Russell. The thing is, those directors are talked about and celebrated regularly, while Peter Greenaway is the quiet British master getting slept on. If you have a taste for the abstract, the offensive, or simply film as an artform, and you're not easily upset by things you see on the screen, this is a film you absolutely need to see. There is nothing like it, except other Greenaway films. But even then, he takes things further here than he does in any of his others, in a sense. I believe The Cook will always be my favorite film of his, but this truly is a terrifying masterpiece of jarring obscurity and I know it's the "furthest" we will ever see Greenaway go.

I can't believe this is only the 36th review of this film since it's release in 1993. This film deserves so much more exposure.

score 10/10

Stay_away_from_the_Metropol 9 January 2020

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw5392681/