May 1 2007Nightwatching Trailer
To the delight of pretentious film snobs everywhere, Peter Greenaway has strung together another series of intricately composed shots of sex and decadence set to a minimalist score, this time covering the life of Rembrandt. Doughy-faced Martin Freeman certainly matches the plump look of the painter, and Greenaway's style has often been compared to Renaissance painting, but I can't help but think that maybe Rembrant would have wanted it differently.
Yes, by simply looking at such a work as Christ in the Storm on the Lake of Galilee, it's obvious Rembrant would have cast himself as a Lethal Weapon-era Mel Gibson. And besides being a painter, he'd also be leader of an F-14 squadron, whose brash, never-by-the-book piloting would surely get him killed if he weren't just so damn good.
"Chiroscur-you later, asshole," quips the Dutch master, ripping a hole through the side of an enemy plane. "Daaaaaamn," shouts Martin Lawrence, his co-pilot.
Reader Comments
1. Praz - May 1, 2007 10:20 AM
Who?
2. Jon "Bean"Hastings - May 1, 2007 5:44 PM
Darn, I was hoping to be the first to contrapPOSTo! Ha! I went to art school!
3. art fag - May 1, 2007 7:59 PM
i never thought chiaroscuro was so badass
4. rupert - June 1, 2007 10:58 AM
I disagree, I think that's just a tall poppy remark, infact it is the other way in the industry almost all through-out, the pretentious film snobs are the ones who want a screen full of cgi and blondes, an two second cut-aways every one second. Peter is one of the last Western fringe filmmakers able to pull a decent enough budget to realise his films, you'll notice although even this work had something like 28 producers attached.
I agree with you that Greenaway misses the mark however when it comes to characterisation, he isn't very profound, but he's a cinematic architect who builds landscapes around his narratives that are really quite remarkable. He's fighting the good fight to keep non-maintream cinema at least smouldering somewhat.
Rups