The Belly of an Architect

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The Belly of an Architect

R

1987

1h 58m

Comedy

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

85%

Tomatometer

13 Reviews

80%

Popcornmeter

2,500+ Ratings

Stourley Kracklite (Brian Dennehy), a driven, detail-obsessed architect, travels from America to Rome with his much younger wife, Louisa (Chloe Webb), to oversee an architectural homage to a personal hero, 18th-century master builder Etienne-Louis Boullée. En route by train, Stourley and Louisa conceive a much-wanted child -- but Stourley's obsession with his wife's expanding belly, her perceived infidelity, and his own recurrent bouts of abdominal pain reach epic and dangerous proportions.

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Tom Meek

Cambridge Day

[Brian] Dennehy is outstanding as a man out of his element, and the cinematic rendering of Rome's classic structures is a visual feast.

Rated: 3/4

Apr 20, 2020

Full Review

Ángel Luis Inurria

El Pais (Spain)

Presumptuous, cold, and distant. [Full Review in Spanish]

Apr 3, 2020

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Cole Smithey

ColeSmithey.com

Rated: 4/5

Nov 30, 2007

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Rob Gonsalves

Rob's Movie Vault

Dennehy achieves Brando-esque emotional power.

Rated: B+

Apr 9, 2007

Full Review

Randy Shulman

Metro Weekly (Washington, DC)

Rated: 3/5

Jun 30, 2005

Full Review

Nick Davis

Nick's Flick Picks

There's a good deal here to relish, even if the piece as a whole eventually descends into the same hermetic serialism of motifs that has consumed most of Greenaway's pictures.

Rated: B

Aug 28, 2004

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Grant C

Visual delight. A great film about ambition and what it means to sacrifice your life for your art. Absolute must watch simply for the way it's filmed, the shots of Rome, and for Dennehy's outstanding performance.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/06/25

Full Review

Donald D

Just let this film envelop you it is a wonder of cinema. It’s a watch.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

11/07/24

Full Review

Audience Member

Absolute masterpiece from Peter Greenaway. A visual feast of style, music and visuals. Not to mention the plot which is very unique and original. The performance of Brian Dennehy is spot on perfect and brings a heightens up the sense of tragedy that permeates the film. Its Peter Greenaway at its best!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/25/23

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Audience Member

One of the greatest, the most beautiful and underrated films of all time.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/11/23

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Audience Member

The thing about this is that, despite good performances, as far as I can see, it's a lot of nothing. Sure, it's more of a character study than linear story, but, even taking this into consideration, it still doesn't deliver anything that I think is really worth watching. There are some good ideas here, but that's all they are - ideas that never come to fruition.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/18/23

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Audience Member

I'd recommend this movie to the architects...

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/12/23

Full Review

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Peter Greenaway

Director

Brian Dennehy

Stourley Kracklite

Chloe Webb

Louisa Kracklite

Lambert Wilson

Caspasian Speckler

Sergio Fantoni

Io Speckler

Stephania Cassini

Flavia Speckler

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Synopsis

Stourley Kracklite (Brian Dennehy), a driven, detail-obsessed architect, travels from America to Rome with his much younger wife, Louisa (Chloe Webb), to oversee an architectural homage to a personal hero, 18th-century master builder Etienne-Louis Boullée. En route by train, Stourley and Louisa conceive a much-wanted child -- but Stourley's obsession with his wife's expanding belly, her perceived infidelity, and his own recurrent bouts of abdominal pain reach epic and dangerous proportions.

Director: Peter Greenaway
Rating: R
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 23, 2020
Box Office (Gross USA): $6.3K
Runtime: 1h 58m
Sound Mix: Surround

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