Nightwatching

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🎙️ EPISODE 551: 09.09.22 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟏𝟎-𝐕𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐦𝐞 RANKING GREENAWAY 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 This is a joint review for Nightwatching and Rembrandt's J'accuse. Throughout Volume 3 of this series, I referenced Greenaway's 2007 biopic Nightwatching. Spiritually, it belongs with that group of films, but — since the title of this thing is RANKING Peter Greenaway — it broke free of the pack. It's notably better for a variety of reasons that we'll get to. It's hard not to see Nightwatching as a response to the sensory onslaught that was The Tulse Luper trilogy and multimedia project, which felt like the natural end of a decade spent trying to deconstruct the artform. It's his simplest film, in many ways, since The Draughtsman, and its tone and look certainly echo that picture as well (minus the cute little spinning guns in the title card)...

It also begins a late career series of biopics that continue into the present day (allegedly, with the still looming Walking to Paris, which actually has a trailer now and might see the light of the day?). However, this being Peter Greenaway, that distinction isn't quite accurate...

The film is centered around the commission and painting of perhaps Rembrandt's most famous work, "The Night Watch" (1642). Martin Freeman, aka Bilbo Baggins and the UK version of Jim in the UK The Office, plays Rembrandt van Rijn and in true Greenaway fashion, gets the full frontal male nudity out of the way in the opening scene.

Whereas, previously, many if not all of Peter Greenaway's movies have involved primarily fictional characters navigating and interacting with real historical people, spaces and ideas, Nightwatching is the first one that could actually be described as a biographical film. It is also the first in a his series, "Dutch Masters" (followed up by 2012's Goltzius and the Pelican Company and, apparently, a never realized project on Hieronymus Bosch–its release had been planned to coincide with the 500th anniversary of Bosch's death in 2016, but c'est la vie).

While this film is visually simpler, it's dialogue and rapid-fire collection of references is anything but. It's a heady affair, and I instinctively felt as though I should be expecting some kind of pop quiz at its conclusion. This is at the core of Greenaway's interests, though, and his attention to such details is honorable. And the film doesn't lack for heart because of it. The stuff with Freeman (as Rembrandt) and Eva Birthistle (as his sick wife Saskia) is some of the genuinely sweetest and romantic scenes he's ever captured. Freeman is excellent in the lead role and has two or three fantastic freak-outs which rank among the most boisterous fun I can remember in a Greenway film.

CHRONOLOGICALLY
⫷ EPISODE 550 - (YOU ARE HERE) - EPISODE 551B ⫸

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Nightwatching is a 2007 film about the artist Rembrandt and the creation of his 1642 painting The Night Watch. The film is directed by Peter Greenaway and stars Martin Freeman as Rembrandt, with Eva Birthistle as his wife Saskia van Uylenburg, Jodhi May as his lover Geertje Dircx, and Emily Holmes as his other lover Hendrickje Stoffels. It was released on November 2, 2007.