Greenaway's best after The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover, though that's still easily my favourite from the five films I've seen from him so far.
I think Baby of Macon might be a bit too clever for its own good (it's a play within a play within a movie... maybe?), which isn't always a problem when it comes to a film because it can motivate a rewatch... but Baby is so horrifying I don't think I'll ever want to willingly revisit it.
That leads me to another critique which is that unlike Cook, Baby is much more concerned with focusing on showing horror than mixing it with beauty (though there are bold colours, interesting shot compositions, and impressive one-takes). But Cook really balanced the beauty with the horror into a perfectly blended cocktail, whereas this one is even more grim and distressing thanks to its emphasis on the ugly.
Still, those visuals, the skilled (and quite gutsy) performances from Ormond, Fiennes, and Stone, and the sheer audacity of the story being told and the themes being explored makes this one I could recommend to those with strong stomachs. A few things hold it back from being great imo, but there's still a lot to appreciate and/or be absolutely sickened by.
I think Baby of Macon might be a bit too clever for its own good (it's a play within a play within a movie... maybe?), which isn't always a problem when it comes to a film because it can motivate a rewatch... but Baby is so horrifying I don't think I'll ever want to willingly revisit it.
That leads me to another critique which is that unlike Cook, Baby is much more concerned with focusing on showing horror than mixing it with beauty (though there are bold colours, interesting shot compositions, and impressive one-takes). But Cook really balanced the beauty with the horror into a perfectly blended cocktail, whereas this one is even more grim and distressing thanks to its emphasis on the ugly.
Still, those visuals, the skilled (and quite gutsy) performances from Ormond, Fiennes, and Stone, and the sheer audacity of the story being told and the themes being explored makes this one I could recommend to those with strong stomachs. A few things hold it back from being great imo, but there's still a lot to appreciate and/or be absolutely sickened by.