SOURCE: Blake, Richard. “Metaphor.” America (23 June 1990): 609–13.

In the following review, Blake offers an unfavorable assessment of The Cook, the Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover, calling it “a most unpleasant experience to subject the psyche to.”

The Cook, the Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover is not a very good film. In fact, it would probably have slipped all but unnoticed into a few “art” houses and vanished without a trace, had it not been for the publicity it received for its X-rating from the Motion Picture Association of America (M.P.A.A.). The producers complained about the “censorship” and decided to release the film as “unrated,” since many theater chains will not show X-rated films and many papers will not accept advertising for them. The publicity value of the controversy is not being wasted, since the ads offer the gullible the prospect of artistic, and thus...