8 ½ Women

Philip Emmenthal, a wealthy Geneva businessman, acquires a chain of pachinko parlours in Kyoto and leaves his son Storey in charge of running them. When Philip's wife dies suddenly, Storey returns to Switzerland to comfort his grieving father. The two men, drawing inspiration from Fellini's 8½, turn the family mansion into a private house of pleasure stocked with women chosen to represent familiar types, among them a nun, a horse enthusiast, a gambler and a woman who is perpetually pregnant. Three of the women come from Kyoto. Over the course of a year, the arrangement shifts as the women begin to assert themselves.

Peter Greenaway wrote and directed this comedy drama, released in 1999, following The Pillow Book in his filmography. John Standing plays Philip and Matthew Delamere plays Storey, with Toni Collette, Vivian Wu and Annie Shizuka Inoh among the large credited cast. Kees Kasander produced, continuing his long collaboration with the director.

Made for about six million dollars, the film drew modest audiences and mixed responses. On IMDb it holds a rating of 5.6 from roughly 4,400 votes, while on TMDB it stands at 5.5 from a much smaller sample of 70. A critics' rating of 5.1 from 37 reviews places it slightly below the audience scores, suggesting neither critics nor viewers regarded it among the director's stronger works.