This was my introduction to the work of Greenaway, and will likely be my last foray into his world. I watched this film because I'm an art lover and enjoy a good mystery. The taglines for this seemingly endless bit of cinematic self-indulgence seemed to indicate that it was a clever murder mystery involving Rembrandt's "Night Watch." If you stay awake, you may actually see about 30 minutes of material related to that plot line. The rest is beautifully-composed, impeccably-lit, lushly-costumed twaddle.
Greenaway takes us from one beautiful shot to the next, giving us many reasons to admire his visual sense, while we scratch our heads wondering why he can't seem to get a plot going. He manages to cram a lot of sex and vulgarity into the story, for whatever reason, but little insight into the "real" Rembrandt or his art. I'm tempted to watch his documentary "J'Accuse," which theoretically delves more into the artistic side of this story, but I'm afraid that I'll just waste two more hours being lulled to sleep by "l'hauteur de l'auteur."
Greenaway takes us from one beautiful shot to the next, giving us many reasons to admire his visual sense, while we scratch our heads wondering why he can't seem to get a plot going. He manages to cram a lot of sex and vulgarity into the story, for whatever reason, but little insight into the "real" Rembrandt or his art. I'm tempted to watch his documentary "J'Accuse," which theoretically delves more into the artistic side of this story, but I'm afraid that I'll just waste two more hours being lulled to sleep by "l'hauteur de l'auteur."