The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover is a 1989 British independent movie starring Richard Bohringer, Alan Howard, Michael Gambon and Helen Mirren and directed by Peter Greenaway. This movie was originally tagged by the MPAA under an X rating, due to which commercial distribution of this movie was limited. The X rating was then surrendered, and this movie was released with no rating. It was later released onto video with two versions, one rated NC-17, and the other under an R rating.