Peter Greenaway

[Scharphedin2]

Peter Greenaway (1941- )



"I wanted to make a cinema of ideas, not plots,
and to use the same aesthetics as painting, which
has always paid great attention to formal devices
of structure, composition and framing."


Filmography

Nightwatching (2007): R5 Paradise Digital (Russia)

A Life in Suitcases (2005)

"European Showerbath" (Part of Visions of Europe) (short, 2004): R2 Arte Video (Germany)

The Tulse Luper Suitcases, Part 2: Vaux to the Sea (2004)

The Tulse Luper Suitcases, Part 3: From Sark to the Finish (2003)

The Tulse Luper Suitcases: Antwerp (2003)

The Tulse Luper Suitcases, Part 1: The Moab Story (2003): R2 Lauren Films (Spain)

The Man in the Bath (short, 2001)

Bologna 2000 (short, 2000)

The Death of a Composer: Rosa, A horse Drama (TV Opera, 1999)

8 1/2 Women (1999): R1 Universal / R2 Pathé/Fox (UK), Pony
Canyon (Japan), Film sans Frontièrs (France)

The Bridge Celebration (short, 1997)

The Pillow Book (1996): R1 Columbia-Tri-Star / R2 VCI-FilmFour (UK)

Lumière et compagnie (short, 1995): R1 Fox Lorber

Stairs 1 Geneva (1995)

Darwin (TV, 1993)

The Baby of Mâcon (1993): R(?) Shock Video (Australia)

Rosa (short, 1992)

M is for Man, Music, Mozart (TV, 1991): Included on a DVD entitled "Not Mozart" R0/1(?) Image

Prospero's Books (1991)

A Walk Through Prospero's Library (TV, 1991)

The Cook the Thief His Wife & Her Lover (1989): R1 Anchor Bay (Criterion rumored) / R2 Universal Studios (Spain/Japan/UK), Seven 7 (France)

Hubert Bals Handshake (short, 1989)

A TV Dante (TV mini-series, 1989)

Drowning By Numbers (1988): R2 Elle U Multimedia (Italy) / R4 Film Four (Australia)

Death in the Seine (TV, 1988)

Fear of Drowning (short, 1988): included on "Peter Greenaway with Michael Nyman" R2 Books Kinokuniya (Japan)

The Belly of an Architect (1987): R1/0(?) MGM

Inside Rooms: 26 Bathrooms, London & Oxfordshire, 1985 (short, 1985): included on "Peter Greenaway with Michael Nyman" R2 Books Kinokuniya (Japan)

A Zed & Two Noughts (1985): R1 Zeitgeist / R2 BFI (UK), MK2 (France)

Making a Splash (short, 1984): included on "Peter Greenaway with Michael Nyman" R2 Books Kinokuniya (Japan)

The Coastline (1983)

Four American Composers (TV, 1983)

The Draughtsman's Contract (1982): R1 Zeitgeist / R2 BFI (UK), MK2 (France)

Terence Conran (short, 1981)

Act of God (TV, 1980)

Country Diary (short, 1980)

The Falls (1980): R1 Zeitgeist / R2 BFI (UK)

Lacock Villiage (short, 1980)

Leeds Castle (short, 1979)

Women Artists (short, 1979)

Zandra Zhodes (short, 1979)

1-100 (short, 1978)

Cut Above the Rest (short, 1978)

Eddie Kid (short, 1978)

Vertical Features Remake (short, 1978): (included with The Falls in "The Early Films of Peter Greenaway Vol.2) R1 Zeitgest / R2 BFI (UK)

A Walk Through H: The Reincarnation of an Ornithologist (short, 1978): (included in "The Early Films of Peter Greenaway Vol.1) R1 Zeitgest / R2 BFI (UK), BFI/Digiad Consulting (Spain)

Dear Phone (short, 1977): (included in "The Early Films of Peter Greenaway Vol.1) R1 Zeitgest / R2 BFI (UK), BFI/Digiad Consulting (Spain)

Goole by Numbers (short, 1976)

Water (short, 1975)

Water Wrackets (short, 1975): (included in "The Early Films of Peter Greenaway Vol.1) R1 Zeitgest / R2 BFI (UK), BFI/Digiad Consulting (Spain)

Windows (short, 1975): (included in "The Early Films of Peter Greenaway Vol.1) R1 Zeitgest / R2 BFI (UK), BFI/Digiad Consulting (Spain)

H Is For House (short, 1973): (included in "The Early Films of Peter Greenaway Vol.1) R1 Zeitgest / R2 BFI (UK), BFI/Digiad Consulting (Spain)

Erosion (short, 1971)

Intervals (short, 1969): (included in "The Early Films of Peter Greenaway Vol.1) R1 Zeitgest / R2 BFI (UK), BFI/Digiad Consulting (Spain)

5 Postcards From Capital Cities (short, 1967)

Revolution (short, 1967)

Train (short, 1966)

Tree (short, 1966)

Death of Sentiment (short, 1962)


Forum Discussions

Greenaway shorts: http://www.criterionforum.org/forum/vie ... php?t=4151

Nightwatching (international DVD discussion): http://www.criterionforum.org/forum/vie ... php?t=7731

Nightwatching ('New Films' discussion): http://www.criterionforum.org/forum/vie ... php?t=6910

The Cook the Thief His Wife & Her Lover: http://www.criterionforum.org/forum/vie ... php?t=7608

Prospero's Books: http://www.criterionforum.org/forum/vie ... php?t=3038

The Baby of Mâcon: http://www.criterionforum.org/forum/vie ... php?t=4166

Peter Greenaway: http://www.criterionforum.org/forum/vie ... php?t=7032

The Tulse Luper Suitcases: http://www.criterionforum.org/forum/vie ... php?t=4816


Web Resources

Peter Greenaway's official website: http://www.petergreenaway.info/

imdb: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000425/

wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Greenaway

Why j'aime Peter Greenaway... and why I loathe his films (by David Thomson): http://film.guardian.co.uk/cannes/story ... 18,00.html

Flesh and Ink (by Cristopher Hawthorne): http://www.salon.com/june97/greenaway970606.html


Video Resources

Peter Greenaway Filming and Directing Nightwatching: http://youtube.com/watch?v=QvAl9QDZwW4

Cinema = Dead: http://youtube.com/watch?v=-t-9qxqdVm4

Greenaway at EGS 2006: http://youtube.com/watch?v=-dl--lBx-Qo

Opera, Film and death at EGS: http://youtube.com/watch?v=U2nQEPCaMRg

Slavery of music: http://youtube.com/watch?v=pujSe4wK5bg

Precipitating the Falls

Nightwatching Trailer


Books by Greenaway

Fear of Drowning by Numbers/Regles Du Jew (Greenaway, 1989)

Prospero's Books: A Film of the Shakespeare's The Tempest (Greenaway, 1991)

Papers (Greenaway, 1991)

Prospero's Subjects (Greenaway, 1992)

The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover (Greenaway, 1992)

The Physical Self (Greenaway, 1992)

Watching Water (Greenaway, 1993)

Audience of Mâcon (Greenaway, 1993)

Rosa (Greenaway, 1994)

The Falls (Greenaway, 1994)

Flying Out of This World (Greenaway, 1994)

The Baby of Mâcon (Greenaway, 1994)

Prospero's Creatures (Greenaway, 1994)

The Stairs: Geneva, the Location (Greenaway, 1995)

The Stairs: Munich Projection (Greenaway, 1996)

The Pillow Book (Greenaway, 1997)

Flying Over Water=Volar Damunt L'Aigua (Greenaway, 1997)

100 Allegories to Represent the World (Greenaway, 1998)

A Zed & Two Noughts (Greenaway, 1998)

Drowning By Numbers (Greenaway, 1998)

Eight and a Half Women (Greenaway, 1999)

Gold (Greenaway, 2002)

The Children of Uranium (Greenaway, 2006)

Fort Asperen Ark (Greenaway, 2007)

Nightwatching (Greenaway, 2007)

Leonardo's Last Supper (Greenaway, 2008)

The Historians: The rise and Fall of Gestures Drama, Book 39 (Greenaway, 2007)

The Historians: Toys, Book 6 (Greenaway, 2008)


Books About Greenaway

The World of Peter Greenaway (Steinmetz/Greenaway, 1995)

Being Naked--Playing Dead: The Art of Peter Greenaway (Woods, 1997)

Peter Greenaway: Architecture and Allegory (Elliot/Purdy, 1997)

Peter Greenaway: Museums and Moving Images (Essays in Art and Culture) (Pascoe, 1997)

The Films of Peter Greenaway (Cambridge Film Classics) (Lawrence, 1997)

Peter Greenaway: Artworks 63-98 (Pelia, 1999)

Peter Greenaway: Interviews (Conversations with Filmmakers) (Greenaway/Gras, 2000)

Peter Greenaway's Postmodern/Poststructuralist Cinema (Alemany-Galway/Willoquet-maricondi, 2001)

The Films of Peter Greenaway: Sex, Death and Provocation (Keesey, 2006)

Peter Greenaway (Gorostiza, 2007)

__________________________________________________
* This thread researched and created by forum member Miless

[miless]

I guess out of all of Greenaway's films, my favorite has to be The Falls. The summation of all his previous (short) films (it even contains large portions of many of them), it really is an experience unlike any other I have encountered. The sheer display of intellectual creativity is astounding.
I do love many of his other (available) films (Cook, ZOO, Draughtsman's, Architect) but wish I could see more. And it seems a film about Rembrandt, in English nonetheless, would find a home with someone (Zeitgeist and NY'er, I'm looking at you two).

[tavernier]

Last Supper installation in Milan.

[ellipsis7]

See a filmed excerpt of Greenaway's installation in action

It really is rather beautiful...

[zedz]

I'm surprised that the announcement of the Tulse Luper Suitcases box set hasn't got more attention around here. I've only seen the first part and had a mixed reaction (Greenaway's most interesting work in some time, but still), though I'm curious enough to pick this up.

[yoshimori]

There's also Greenaway's new literary project, The Historians - one hundred one hundred-page books to be published over the next 10 years. At this rate, however (two books completed in 18 months) it looks like it well may be another Tulse Luper torso project.

The two so far are: Book 39: The Rise & Fall of Gestures Drama and Book 6: Toys

[Tommaso]

I'm surprised that the announcement of the Tulse Luper Suitcases box set hasn't got more attention around here. I've only seen the first part and had a mixed reaction (Greenaway's most interesting work in some time, but still), though I'm curious enough to pick this up.

FANTASTIC NEWS, Zedz! I had completely given up hope for this to be released anywhere. I have actually managed to see Pts.2 and 3, and would say that the second part is the strongest of the trilogy, though there's of course not much difference in style and content. But this second part is perhaps the most complex and also the funniest of the three (with a wonderful use of Renoir's "Boudu" as a reference point in one sequence). Pt.3 feels somewhat rushed (9 episodes in 2 hours) and sadly also replaces J.J.Feild as Luper with another actor and relies much more heavily on computer work than the first two parts. Somehow I can't help thinking that PG ran out of money with it. But it's still worth seeing, though not as rewarding as the first two parts.

Oh, and while I'm at it, some additions to the list above:

Filmography

Rembrandt's J'accuse (2008), which seems to be a sort of mockumentary further investigating the Nightwatch Murder Mystery. At 103 mins. it looks like a rather substantial piece. Available on the French 2-disc edition of "Nightwatching" ("La Ronde de Nuit").

Writing on Water (2005), a collaboration with composer David Lang and the London Sinfonietta, available on DVD from the London Sinfonietta . A nice 30 minute film somewhat similar to "Prospero".

"Four American Composers" is available on 2 dvds from absolut medien, Germany, "Rosa" on a UK disc called "Rosas Shorts".

Books by Greenaway:

Map to Paradise from Ljubljana (Greenaway, 2001)

Books on Greenaway:
The Framer Framed - A Peter Greenaway Symposium (various authors, 1999)
Peter Greenaway's Book (Kolenc/Pivec, eds., 2000)

[colinr0380]

At least it bodes well for the release of the films on other regions. I'm afraid I'm not really up to speed on the Tulse Luper Suitcases - has the project been finished/abandoned/stalled? What was the goal of the films - a suitcase an episode?

[tavernier]

Writing on Water (2005), a collaboration with composer David Lang and the London Sinfonietta, available on DVD from the London Sinfonietta . A nice 30 minute film somewhat similar to "Prospero".

Here's the correct link for the DVD.

Also, Four American Composers is available on a 2-DVD set from France.

[Tommaso]

Thanks for the correct link, Tavernier!

At least it bodes well for the release of the films on other regions. I'm afraid I'm not really up to speed on the Tulse Luper Suitcases - has the project been finished/abandoned/stalled? What was the goal of the films - a suitcase an episode?

Well, the original plan was to make three feature films and a 16-part TV series, so the latter would have had one episode per installment. There are 92 suitcases though, scattered through all the episodes, and for these suitcases the idea was to have 92 special dvds each dealing with the contents of one suitcase. Of course it's unlikely that PG ever considered these to actually come out.

I guess it was very much like presenting a conceptual idea without necessarily having to realise the idea in full. It's the same with those 100 novels mentioned above or with earlier projects like "The Stairs" (3 parts out of 10 realised) or "Maps to Paradise" (with only the Ljubljana installation realised, out of 10 planned).

[yoshimori]

Around the time of the US release of 8.5 Women, Greenaway told me and a friend - and this was all "hush hush" (read: "typical PG bs") - that Madonna was 100% on board with the whole 100 hours of his Tulse Luper epic. I think he actually approached her a few months later, but obviously nothing came of it. He was working on another idea then too, one that sounded way more interesting, in which Ralph Fiennes would play a doctor roaming the plains during the plague. He spoke for at least half an hour (over lunch!) detailing the pusses and decays that accompanied the disease.

[tavernier]

Greenaway has always been full of plans that are never realized.

At the Toronto Film Festival press conference in '91 for Prospero's Books, he spoke about his next film, 55 Men on Horseback.

At the Toronto Film Festival press conference in '93 for what became his next film, The Baby of Macon, he spoke about his next film, Augsbergenfelt (sp?), which was about a battle during the Hundred Years' War.

Of course, his next film was The Pillow Book. I believe there are references to those two unrealized projects (among others) in one of his books...maybe Papers.

[Tommaso]

As far as I know, 'Augsbergenfeld' simply fell through for lack of funding. But that's a difference to those 100 novels or 92 Tulse Luper dvds: these would have been physically impossible to make by all normal standards, at least for one single artist. I remember vaguely that there exists at least one of those additional Tulse Luper dvd projects, made by (film?) students from Leipzig(?), though.
I guess generating the ideas for these mammoth projects is intended to make the audience imagine the possible ramifications of the projects in the first place. A very 'conceptual' or 'utopian' approach, if you like, never intended to be created in reality. But this doesn't surprise me very much, given Greenaway's fascination with the imagery architecture of Boullée in "The Belly of an Architect" or even only Piranesi in "Prospero".

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

I vaguely recall reading that Greenaway shot a huge amount of deleted footage for The Draughtsman's Contract that he planned to incorporate into another feature.

[Robotron]

Greenaway directs a music video. It seems like he felt his Tulse Luper Suitcase films didn't get the exposure they deserved.

[miless]

wow, that music video was terrible. It could have been better had he eliminated the on-screen text and used a good song.

[luridedith]

Ewww.

Are we sure he directed it? Or did that shitty band just steal footage from Tulse Luper Suitcases and lump text over it? Its truly dreadful, like an ad for Grey's Anatomy.

[Barmy]

I don't think the video is that bad. The music is certainly unlistenable. Have any famous auteurs made good music videos? I don't mean Demme famous--I mean Godard/Naruse/Bergman famous.

[swo17]

How about Scorsese's Bad video?

[Barmy]

Thanks, but I'm asking for good videos. Also Marty is not a top-tier auteur, but that's a discussion for another day.

[Tommaso]

Derek Jarman's videos for the Pet Shop Boys.

[yoshimori]

Bruce Conner's 1966 "Breakaway". Still the best video ever made.

[Faux Hulot]

Bruce Conner's 1966 "Breakaway". Still the best video ever made.

I prefer his Devo and Byrne/Eno clips, but... yeah.

Kenneth Anger was asked to make a music video for Combustible Edison, but he said the CD player broke when he put their disc in, so he took it as a sign. If "Mouse Heaven" is any indication, it's probably just as well.

[Skritek]

Wong Kar-Wai for DJ Shadow is pretty nice.

[Robotron]

I don't know if this has been posted on any of the Greenaway forums on here, but seeing as it wasn't in the video resources:

A TV Dante and Four American Composers.