Philip Imanson, a wealthy businessman from Geneva, owns eight and a half pachinko parlors in Japan, all located in bustling streets of major Japanese cities, which he has entrusted to his son Story to manage. Story gradually becomes enamored with everything Japanese and admires the indomitable spirit of the Japanese people that emerged after the earthquake, applying it to gambling... After Philip's wife passes away, leaving him heartbroken, Story takes him to see Fellini's 'Eight and a Half' to divert his attention. Philip becomes fascinated by the various women depicted in the film, leading the father and son to plan a quest for pleasure by recruiting SIMATO (played by Ye Nan Jing), who is deeply in debt due to gambling on pachinko. SIMATO finds the first woman, MIO, who is hopelessly devoted to her male companions dressed as women; the second is KITO, a demure working girl who falls in love with Story and is a girl who desires physical rather than spiritual satisfaction; then there's BERYL, a female jockey; GIACONDA, a childless woman saved from prison for trafficking; and CLOTHILDE, the beloved servant of Philip's late wife. SIMATO also discovers PAIMIRA, a half-man, half-woman transgender person, who requires a wheelchair for half of her body... and lastly, DELCTO, the woman Philip has always desired.... Together, these eight and a half women create their own paradise of desires in the luxurious home of Story in Geneva. Over time, each woman gradually demands autonomy, and Philip successfully realizes his indulgent dreams. However, the women's assertiveness soon overtakes the men's fantasies, leading to men's growing confusion and loss of interest, and Story finally realizes that this has all become a fleeting illusion... men have ultimately lost to women....... As a daring and highly controversial director, Peter Greenaway always presents extraordinary challenges to his audience with his shocking visual language, eliciting either love or hate for his films. In works such as 'The Draftsman's Contract', 'ZOO', 'The Belly of an Architect', 'Drowning by Numbers', 'The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover', 'Prospero's Books', 'The Pillow Book', and 'The Child of Macon', Greenaway makes new cinematic experiments, blending classical perspectives with modern, experimental forms. His new work 'Eight and a Half Women' can be considered a new milestone in the entirety of his oeuvre.
