{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2025}} {{Use British English|date=April 2016}} {{Infobox film | name = The Belly of an Architect | image = The Belly of an Architect.jpg | caption = Film poster | director = [[Peter Greenaway]] | producer = [[Colin Callender]]<br />Walter Donohue | writer = Peter Greenaway | narrator = | starring = [[Brian Dennehy]]<br />[[Chloe Webb]]<br />[[Lambert Wilson]] | music = [[Wim Mertens]] | cinematography = [[Sacha Vierny]] | editing = John Wilson | distributor = [[Hemdale Film Corporation]] | released = {{Film date|1987|10|16|United Kingdom}} | runtime = 120 minutes | country = {{ubl|United Kingdom | Italy}} | language = English | budget =£1.8 million<ref name="org">{{cite web|url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk/sites/bfi.org.uk/files/downloads/bfi-back-to-the-future-the-fall-and-rise-of-the-british-film-industry-in-the-1980s.pdf|page=19|title=Back to the Future: The Fall and Rise of the British Film Industry in the 1980s – An Information Briefing|publisher=British Film Institute|date=2005|access-date=28 November 2020|archive-date=12 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150912042419/http://www.bfi.org.uk/sites/bfi.org.uk/files/downloads/bfi-back-to-the-future-the-fall-and-rise-of-the-british-film-industry-in-the-1980s.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> }} '''''The Belly of an Architect''''' is a 1987 [[drama film]] written and directed by [[Peter Greenaway]], featuring original music by [[Glenn Branca]] and [[Wim Mertens]]. Starring [[Brian Dennehy]] and [[Chloe Webb]], it was nominated for the [[Palme d'Or]] (Golden Palm) award at the [[1987 Cannes Film Festival]].<ref name="festival-cannes.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/422/year/1987.html |title=Festival de Cannes: The Belly of an Architect |access-date=2009-07-19|work=festival-cannes.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|work=The New York Times|author=Maslin, Janet|title=BELLY OF AN ARCHITECT,' FROM PETER GREENAWAY|date=1 October 1987|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/10/01/movies/belly-of-an-architect-from-peter-greenaway.html}}</ref>
==Plot== American architect Stourley Kracklite has been commissioned to construct an exhibition in Rome dedicated to the architecture of the 18th-century French architect, [[Étienne-Louis Boullée]], who until the 20th century remained little known. Kracklite's Italian colleagues express doubts about whether Boullée really belongs in the architectural pantheon; they note that few of his buildings were ever constructed and observe that Boullée was an inspiration for [[Adolf Hitler]]'s architect [[Albert Speer]].
As he works on the exhibition, Kracklite's marriage and health deteriorate. He becomes obsessed with [[Caesar Augustus]], the first [[emperor]] of the [[Roman Empire]], after hearing that Augustus's wife, Livia, supposedly poisoned him. Suffering from recurrent stomach pains, he suspects his much younger wife, Louisa, of trying to do the same. Louisa reveals that she is pregnant with Kracklite's child, conceived at the precise moment their train crossed the Italian border. Meanwhile, she has become sexually involved with Caspasian Speckler, the younger co-organiser of the exhibition. We learn that Caspasian has also been siphoning off funds from the exhibition, even as he and his Italian associates undermine Kracklite's authority and confidence. Kracklite himself is seduced by Caspasian's sister Flavia, a photographer in her apartment across from the [[Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana]]. The two are discovered in flagrante by Caspasian, who threatens to tell Louisa.
Louisa leaves Kracklite, who is diagnosed with stomach cancer and given only months to live. The film ends at the exhibition's opening ceremony, nine months after their arrival in Italy. Kracklite, now replaced as director by Caspasian, watches from a high vantage point as Louisa cuts the tape. As she suddenly goes into labor, Kracklite jumps to his death.
==Cast== {{castlist| * [[Brian Dennehy]] as Stourley Kracklite * [[Chloe Webb]] as Louisa Kracklite * [[Lambert Wilson]] as Caspasian Speckler * [[Sergio Fantoni]] as Io Speckler * [[Stefania Casini]] as Flavia Speckler * [[Vanni Corbellini]] as Frederico * [[Alfredo Varelli]] as Julio * [[Geoffrey Copleston]] as Caspetti * [[Francesco Carnelutti (actor)|Francesco Carnelutti]] as Pastarri * [[Marino Masé]] as Trettorio * [[Marne Maitland]] as Battistino * Claudio Spadaro as Mori * [[Rate Furlan]] as The Violinist * Julian Jenkins as Old Doctor * Enrica Maria Scrivano as Mother }}
==Critical reception== [[Review aggregator]] website [[Rotten Tomatoes]] reports 85% approval of ''The Belly of an Architect'' based on 13 reviews, with an average rating of 6.6/10.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/belly_of_an_architect/ |title=''The Belly of an Architect'' (1987) |publisher=Rotten Tomatoes |access-date=16 July 2024}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{IMDb title}} * {{Metacritic movie}}
{{Peter Greenaway}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Belly of an Architect, The}} [[Category:1987 films]] [[Category:1987 drama films]] [[Category:Films about adultery]] [[Category:British drama films]] [[Category:1987 English-language films]] [[Category:Films about architecture]] [[Category:Films about cancer in the United States]] [[Category:Films about suicide]] [[Category:Films directed by Peter Greenaway]] [[Category:Films scored by Wim Mertens]] [[Category:Films set in Rome]] [[Category:Italian drama films]] [[Category:British pregnancy films]] [[Category:1987 British films]] [[Category:1987 Italian films]] [[Category:English-language drama films]] [[Category:English-language Italian films]]