Peter Greenaway: Cinema and Painting

June 8, 2012 - June 9, 2012

The influence of painting, particularly of the Renaissance and Baroque periods, is readily evident in British filmmaker Peter Greenaway’s distinctive films—in their lush colors and dramatic lighting, choreographed tableaux, and concern with architecture and costume. In 2006, he undertook to extend his dialogue between the language of cinema and that of painting through an ambitious project of video installations entitled Nine Classic Paintings Revisited, and to date has interpreted such works as Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper and Paolo Veronese’s Wedding at Cana. But Greenaway first turned his attention to Rembrandt’s The Night Watch (1642), and, in addition to a video installation, created two films exploring the Dutch master’s most famous painting. You’ll want to take note of Greenaway’s speculative art history lessons. He elucidates the puzzles and mysteries embedded in the painting and its enigmatic iconography with wit and intelligence.

Kathy Geritz, Film Curator

Friday, June 8, 2012
7:00 p.m. Rembrandt’s J’Accuse
Peter Greenaway (U.K./Netherlands, 2008). This provocative cine-essay by the director of The Draughtsman’s Contract and The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover reframes Rembrandt’s The Night Watch as an indictment of seventeenth-century Amsterdam’s ruling elites. (90 mins)

Saturday, June 9, 2012
6:00 p.m. Nightwatching
Peter Greenaway (U.K./Netherlands/Poland/Canada, 2007). This precursor to Rembrandt’s J’Accuse takes a fictional approach to the painter’s life, portraying Rembrandt’s relations with three women, his wife, his model, and his servant, during the creation of his masterpiece, The Night Watch. Starring Martin Freeman (The Office; Sherlock). (134 mins)

With thanks to John Ewing for his assistance in arranging to bring these prints to the U.S.