The Garden of Earthly Delights

A beautifully constructed tragic romance, Garden of Earthly Delights chronicles the doomed affair between two Brits in Venice, an engineer (Chris Nightingale) who compulsively records everything that happens to him and a terminally ill art historian (Claudine Spiteri). Adapting from his own novel, filmmaker Lech Majewski deftly avoids the clichés that are attendant to “fatal” romances, concentrating instead on the engineer’s camcorder compulsion and his girlfriend’s attempts to recreate tableaux from the Hieronymous Bosch painting that supplies the film’s title. The result is a film that will satisfy viewers looking for a sad love story as well as those who like their romances a bit more … eccentric. Kino is releasing Garden with three other previously unreleased Majewski titles, including Gospel According to Harry, starring Viggo Mortensen.

Shelf Talk: Majewski’s name isn’t immediately recognizable, even to arthouse aficionados, but his work deserves a push to fans of Peter Greenaway, Wong Kar-Wai and other modern visionaries. Though constructed in a willfully self-conscious manner (the entire film is comprised of the engineer’s videos of he and lady-love), the “alienation” technique actually serves to bring viewers further into the story, making Garden an excellent choice for brainy folk looking for a good cry.