Peter Greenaway
Peter Greenaway, CBE (born 5 April 1942) is a Welsh writer-director, painter, and video artist. Throughout the late 1960s and '70s, he produced several experimental documentary/mockumentary shorts while working as a film editor for the Central Office of Information. This early period culminated in "The Falls" (1980), a three-hour mockumentary indexing the strange effects of the VUE (the Violent Unknown Event) on 92 people whose names begin with the letters F-A-L-L. He made his dramatic feature film debut with "The Draughtsman's Contract" (1982), and throughout the 1980s directed a string of critically acclaimed and frequently controversial films: "A Zed & Two Noughts" (1985), "The Belly of an Architect" (1987), "Drowning by Numbers" (1988), and his best-known work, the vicious Thatcher-era satire "The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover" (1989). In the 1990s, he directed the Shakespeare adaptation "Prospero's Books" (1991), controversial religious satire "The Baby of Mâcon" (1993), erotic drama "The Pillow Book" (1996), and "8½ Women" (1999), an homage to the films of Federico Fellini, a major influence on Greenaway. In the early 2000s, Greenaway embarked on the ambitious "Tulse Luper" project, a multimedia body of historical fiction revolving around the life of the eponymous fictional hero. In addition to novels, CD-ROMs, online material, and a touring exhibition, the project spawned a trilogy of feature films: "The Tulse Luper Suitcases, Part 1: The Moab Story" ...
A Zed & Two Noughts
(1985)
Twin zoologists lose their wives in a car accident and become obsessed with decomposing animals. (more)
Twin zoologists lose their wives in a car accident and become obsessed with decomposing animals. (more)
Drowning by Numbers (1988)
Three related women, all named Cissie Colpitts share a solidarity for one another which brings about three copy-cat drownings. The local coroner is in love with all three women and helps to disguise the murders. (more)
Three related women, all named Cissie Colpitts share a solidarity for one another which brings about three copy-cat drownings. The local coroner is in love with all three women and helps to disguise the murders. (more)
Prospero's Books (1991)
An exiled magician finds an opportunity for revenge against his enemies muted when his daughter and the son of his chief enemy fall in love in this uniquely structured retelling of the 'The Tempest'. (more)
An exiled magician finds an opportunity for revenge against his enemies muted when his daughter and the son of his chief enemy fall in love in this uniquely structured retelling of the 'The Tempest'. (more)
The Sea in Their Blood (1983)
A film made for the Central Office of Information concerning Britain's coastline, with music by Michael Nyman. (more)
A film made for the Central Office of Information concerning Britain's coastline, with music by Michael Nyman. (more)
The Falls
(1980)
The exploration of the effects of an unexpected catastrophe, known as VUE (violent unknown event) through the bios of 92 survivors. (more)
The exploration of the effects of an unexpected catastrophe, known as VUE (violent unknown event) through the bios of 92 survivors. (more)
The Pillow Book
(1996)
A woman with a body writing fetish seeks to find a combined lover and calligrapher. (more)
A woman with a body writing fetish seeks to find a combined lover and calligrapher. (more)
The Belly of an Architect
(1987)
The American architect Kracklite arrives in Italy, supervising an exhibiton for a French architect, Boullée, famous for his oval structures. Tirelessly dedicated to the project, Kracklite's marriage quickly dissolves along with his health. (more)
The American architect Kracklite arrives in Italy, supervising an exhibiton for a French architect, Boullée, famous for his oval structures. Tirelessly dedicated to the project, Kracklite's marriage quickly dissolves along with his health. (more)
The Draughtsman's Contract
(1982)
A young artist is commissioned by the wife of a wealthy landowner to make a series of drawings of the estate while her husband is away. (more)
A young artist is commissioned by the wife of a wealthy landowner to make a series of drawings of the estate while her husband is away. (more)
The Tulse Luper Suitcases, Part 1: The Moab Story (2003)
The Tulse Luper Suitcases reconstructs the life of Tulse Luper, a professional writer and project-maker, caught up in a life of prisons. He was born in 1911 in Newport, South Wales and presumably last heard of in 1989. His life is reconstructed from the evidence of ... (more)
The Tulse Luper Suitcases reconstructs the life of Tulse Luper, a professional writer and project-maker, caught up in a life of prisons. He was born in 1911 in Newport, South Wales and presumably last heard of in 1989. His life is reconstructed from the evidence of ... (more)
The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover
(1989)
The wife of an abusive criminal finds solace in the arms of a kind regular guest in her husband's restaurant. (more)
The wife of an abusive criminal finds solace in the arms of a kind regular guest in her husband's restaurant. (more)
Lumière and Company (1995)
40 international directors were asked to make a short film using the original Cinematographe invented by the Lumière Brothers, working under conditions similar to those of 1895. There were three rules: (1) The film could be no longer than 52 seconds, (2) no ... (more)
40 international directors were asked to make a short film using the original Cinematographe invented by the Lumière Brothers, working under conditions similar to those of 1895. There were three rules: (1) The film could be no longer than 52 seconds, (2) no ... (more)
Nightwatching (2007)
An extravagant, exotic and moving look at Rembrandt's romantic and professional life, and the controversy he created by the identification of a murderer in the painting The Night Watch. (more)
An extravagant, exotic and moving look at Rembrandt's romantic and professional life, and the controversy he created by the identification of a murderer in the painting The Night Watch. (more)
8 ½ Women (1999)
After the death of his wife, wealthy businessman Philip Emmenthal and his son Storey open their own private harem in their family residence in Geneva (they get the idea while watching Federico Fellini's 8½ and after Storey is "given" a woman, Simato (Inoh), to ... (more)
After the death of his wife, wealthy businessman Philip Emmenthal and his son Storey open their own private harem in their family residence in Geneva (they get the idea while watching Federico Fellini's 8½ and after Storey is "given" a woman, Simato (Inoh), to ... (more)
The Baby of Mâcon
(1993)
Set halfway through the 17th century, a church play is performed for the benefit of the young aristocrat Cosimo. In the play, a grotesque old woman gives birth to a beautiful baby boy. The child's older sister is quick to exploit the situation, selling blessings ... (more)
Set halfway through the 17th century, a church play is performed for the benefit of the young aristocrat Cosimo. In the play, a grotesque old woman gives birth to a beautiful baby boy. The child's older sister is quick to exploit the situation, selling blessings ... (more)
Death in the Seine (1991)
Between 1795 and 1801, 306 drowned people were recovered from the Seine river, near Paris. Peter Greenaway propouns a historical approach were 25 significant cases of drownings are catalogued, dissected and elaborated, with multilayered visuals and 'documentary' asides. (more)
Between 1795 and 1801, 306 drowned people were recovered from the Seine river, near Paris. Peter Greenaway propouns a historical approach were 25 significant cases of drownings are catalogued, dissected and elaborated, with multilayered visuals and 'documentary' asides. (more)
A Walk Through H: The Reincarnation of an Ornithologist
(1979)
An anonymous narrator outlines a bizarre journey taken through "H", aided by a series of extraordinary maps, and his previous dealings with the mysterious Tulse Luper and the keeper of the bird house at the Amsterdam Zoo. (more)
An anonymous narrator outlines a bizarre journey taken through "H", aided by a series of extraordinary maps, and his previous dealings with the mysterious Tulse Luper and the keeper of the bird house at the Amsterdam Zoo. (more)
Visions of Europe (2004)
Twenty-five films from twenty-five European countries by twenty-five European directors. (more)
Twenty-five films from twenty-five European countries by twenty-five European directors. (more)
3x3D (2013)
A triptych of short stereoscopic films by Peter Greenaway, Jean-Luc Godard and Edgar Pêra. Includes "The Three Disasters" by Godard, "Cinesapiens" by Pêra and "Just in Time" by Greenaway. (more)
A triptych of short stereoscopic films by Peter Greenaway, Jean-Luc Godard and Edgar Pêra. Includes "The Three Disasters" by Godard, "Cinesapiens" by Pêra and "Just in Time" by Greenaway. (more)
Darwin (1992)
A revisionist biopic on Charles Darwin, illustrated via 18 tableaux covering details from Darwin's birth, his defining voyage on the HMS Beagle, the publication of his seminal Theory of Evolution and his ultimate death and consequent burial at Westminster Abbey. (more)
A revisionist biopic on Charles Darwin, illustrated via 18 tableaux covering details from Darwin's birth, his defining voyage on the HMS Beagle, the publication of his seminal Theory of Evolution and his ultimate death and consequent burial at Westminster Abbey. (more)
Eisenstein in Guanajuato (2015)
In 1931, following the success of the film Battleship Potemkin, Soviet filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein travels to the city of Guanajuato, Mexico, to shoot a new film. Freshly rejected by Hollywood, Eisenstein soon falls under Mexico’s spell. Chaperoned by his guide ... (more)
In 1931, following the success of the film Battleship Potemkin, Soviet filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein travels to the city of Guanajuato, Mexico, to shoot a new film. Freshly rejected by Hollywood, Eisenstein soon falls under Mexico’s spell. Chaperoned by his guide ... (more)