"Try the cock. It's a delicacy."

'The Cook, the Thief, his Wife, and her Lover'. One of the most brilliantly disturbing films I've ever seen. I don't know whether to say I enjoyed it or not.

The film takes place wholly within the Le Hollandais Restaurant, owned by the English gangster and abusive husband Albert Spica. Over a series of nights at the restaurant, Spica's wife, Georgina, begins an affair with Michael, a regular at the restaurant. Spica eventually discovers this, and murders Michael at the lovers' refuge. Georgina, overcome with rage and grief, convinces the cook, Richard, to cook Michael's body and force Spica to eat it, as he declared he would in a fit of rage. The film ends with Spica taking one bite of the dish before being shot in the head by Georgina.

The purpose of watching the film in the context of Narrative & Genre was to observe how colour was used. The three central areas of Le Hollandais (the dining room, the kitchen, and the bathroom) all had very different colour schemes, and as such, each conveyed a different mood.

The dining room, as shown above, is primarily a deep red colour. Red is usually considered the colour that represents anger, and as such, this is the area where most of the film's conflicts took place, as well as most of Spica's scenes.

The kitchen is shown as dark, dingy, and is primarily dark green in colour. Considered a calming colour, the green helped to maintain a peaceful atmosphere in the kitchen, as well as the male soprano's constant singing. Although peaceful, the green colour and eerie chanting made the kitchen seem rather unsettling.

The final area, the bathroom, is white, and brightly lit. The brightness of the room could possibly suggest security, as Georgina believes she is safe from Spica in the ladies' bathroom. It is also the only room that could be considered mostly free of Spica's anger, hence the white colour. White is often considered to be "good", opposing the "evil" black. This also brings into question the idea of Yin and Yang - natural dualities, for example, light and darkness, hot and cold - in that one thing cannot exist without the other.