9. The Cook, The Thief, His Wife And Her Lover (1989)
Peter Greenaway's transgressive horrible comedy has to be admired if not liked. It has a unique aesthetic and it is unlike any other film you will watch. It does not skimp in the raunchiness factor with Dame Helen Mirren taking of her clothes in the name of art. Mirren's character - Georgina is a well mannered woman who happens to be married to Albert Spica - a sadistic, ignorant, uncouth bully who owns the restaurant where the bulk of the action is set. Georgina develops an attraction to Michael - a mild mannered bookshop owner and they begin a steamy affair under Spica's nose. When the affair is discovered, Albert kills Michael in a unique and ironical way and Georgina in her grief comes up with an extraordinary revenge for Albert. The sex in The Cook is a very good instance of how to properly inject the right amount of spice into an art film, particularly when there is much grotesquery going on. The tender yet passionate love affair between Georgina and Michael is a pleasant foil to Albert's disgusting ways (forcing people to eat excrement, cutting off a young boy's navel. The sex between Georgina and Michael is intense and fast paced as they try to evade scrutiny. In one particular scene, to avoid being detected, they jump naked into a truck full of decaying animal corpses. This was a very brave move on both of the actors' part as it must have been hellish to film but it does reflect how their pure love for each other is surrounded by rotten swine - like Albert and his cronies. The sex is not explicit but it is very appropriate to the movie and it is also very believably portrayed by Helen Mirren and Alan Howard. Kudos to Greenaway!