Peter Greenaway (Pillow Talk) loves to push his cinematic exploration of sexual politics into new arenas. In this bold and sometimes enigmatic drama, he probes his idiosyncratic ideas about male fantasies, father and son relationships, chance, money, revenge, and femininity. Greenaway's cerebral cinema is only recommended for those with great patience and tolerance for kinky sexuality.
When Storey Emmenthal's (Matthew Delamere) mother dies, he returns from Tokyo where he's been managing some pachinko parlors for his wealthy father Philip (John Standing). After he introduces his grieving father to Fellini's film 8 1/2, the two of them decide to convert the family chateau into a private bordello. Among the women joining the harem are Palmira (Polly Walker), a self-possessed beauty who notes "men love women, women love children, children love hamsters; it's a one-way street"; Griselda (Toni Collette), a bank teller who sees herself as a lascivious nun; Beryl (Amanda Plummer), a horse thief and pig lover; Simato (Shizuka Inoh), a gambling addict; Mio (Kirina Mano), who yearns to be a Kabuki transvestite; Kito (Vivian Wu), a Japanese translator; Giaconda (Natacha Amal), an Italian who loves having children; Clothilde (Barbara Sarafian), a servant; and Giuletta (Manna Fujiwara), a half-woman. Philip and Storey act out their wildest sexual fantasies only to discover that there is nothing that can cover up their inner loneliness. The women stage an uprising near the end of the film revealing their deep dissatisfaction.