johnsonisjohnson
29Mar11
I disagree. See Belly Of An Architect. Greenaway is not a misanthrope!
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Bianca Mills and 2 others like this
comeandsee
23Mar11
the most hateful film director still working. his work is devoid of any heart, and to quote ken russell the defining characteristic of his work is this loathing for the human race.
richmondhill
4Oct10
Kamran: Yes, but I is also for Impenetrable or Indulgent! A somewhat mean remark I know, but although I agree with your comments to a fair extent, Greenaway's work is rather at the shallows of intellectual thought for me - you cannot unravel all his 'layers' of meaning because they are often just too personal in their construction to be meaningfully deciphered and end-up being cinematic equivalents of The Sunday Times Crossword (neat, diverting puzzles but little else).
Kamran
16Jun10
Richmond: I get what you're saying, but that's exactly what's so appealing about Peter Greenaway. The reason Greenaway's films are so captivating is because the images and words express the gritty truth about how the mind operates. Consciousness is the essence of humanity..."i think therefore I am"...but our thoughts, while somewhat consciously summoned, seem to just....appear. Thoughts come to mind, and one thought leads to another. There is logic in this though. We are a stream of consciousness, that stream is created by what we have experienced, and our mind, through custom, decides which words and images should follow from whatever word or image that is previously held in the mind. Sure, Greenaway' is concerned with classification and filing, but our mind is like a filing cabinet. Think of "H is For House" for example...words beginning with the letter H are narrated. Each word seems to be somewhat connected to the previous word. They have different meanings, but have a similar form. They are connected because they are filed in the alphabet under the same starting letter. But, this is also how the mind works. When thinking of a word beginning with the letter H, such as House, there's a good chance the next word that appears in our mind begins with the letter H. And those two thoughts are connected by a formal quality, rather than a purely intellectual one. Similarly, the images throughout the short film seem to follow each other, like images that appear in the dreaming mind, or when one is imagining something. It's all really very thoughtful. I can see how you might think that makes Greenaway "cold"...his obsessiveness is neurotic...it's TOO thoughtful...but it's also extremely honest and human. PS: someone needs to put "H Is For House" up on here.
Kamran
6Jun10
'pure cinema'...as would be considered by jean epstein. The content of his films is generally amusing, and fun to toy with, but overall meaningless...and i guess that's the point. importance placed on aesthetics and the beauty of confused locality...open minded cinema that should be more widely appreciated.
richmondhill
6Feb10
A cinematic equivalent of a Victorian Botanist more concerned with classification and filing; his films essentially visual libraries of themes and items of interest to him. It’s just chance if you happen to chime in with his rather ascetic obsessions. Often cold as marble, but usually visually ravishing.
Sean Patrick Stevens likes this
