Nightwatching

I caught British director Peter Greenaway's film Nightwatching at the RPL Theatre Sunday night. I wouldn't say I'm a fan. But when I was just getting into the arts in the late '80s the Dunlop Gallery held a mini-Greenaway festival. He's a very visual director, and like a painter really knows how to work with colour and composition, and his surreal style really broadened my perception of film.


Nightwatching has a really neat premise. It suggests that when Rembrandt did his famous painting of prominent Amsterdam militia members The Night Watch in 1642, he inserted several visual clues that accused them of murdering a fellow militia member a few months prior to the portrait being painted. Kind of like Emile Zola's J'Accuse in France 250 or so years later, but in the form of a grand painting.

At 134 minutes, I found Nightwatching a bit long. The visuals are certainly stunning. Bone up on your Rembrandt catalogue before you go and you're sure to recognize several famous tableaux as they distill from live-action scenes. Greenaway, through his characters, also does a reasonable job of discussing the symbolism inherent in the style of representational painting that was in fashion then.

The film shouldn't be mistaken for a documentary. It is highly stylized, and in certain sections feels more like a stage play that's been filmed than an actual movie. But there are many graphic reminders of the brutality of life in the 15th century. Not to mention numerous F-bombs -- most dropped courtesy of Rembrandt. Overall, definitely worth a look. Here's the trailer. (YouTube)

There is a bit of nudity, so be warned.