Want to watch a pre-Bilbo Baggins Martin Freeman engage in graphic (but exquisitely artistic) sexual foreplay or sit in a latrine populated by fifty semi-naked sweating men? Look no further than this bizarre and uncomfortable art film by genius bizarre and uncomfortable art filmmaker Peter Greenaway (who has directed other such bizarre and uncomfortable art films as Prospero's Books and The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover).
Despite its many bizarre and (more) uncomfortable aspects, Nightwatching is an utterly brilliant piece of artistic filmmaking. Martin Freeman portrays famous Dutch painter Rembrandt van Rijn as he plots and paints the work known as "Nightwatching."
Every single frame of this film could stand on its own in any self-respecting art gallery (though, of course, some of the more bizarre or uncomfortable stills would have to be displayed in certain, hidden, passageways); indeed, some of the film's scenes have been structured purposefully to evoke or mimic some of Rembrandt's own work.
But of course, with its graphic nudity and sexual antics, its latrines, and its strange symbolism, it cannot help but be defined as a bizarre and uncomfortable art film; only, emphasise the "art" aspect of the genre.
Despite its many bizarre and (more) uncomfortable aspects, Nightwatching is an utterly brilliant piece of artistic filmmaking. Martin Freeman portrays famous Dutch painter Rembrandt van Rijn as he plots and paints the work known as "Nightwatching."
Every single frame of this film could stand on its own in any self-respecting art gallery (though, of course, some of the more bizarre or uncomfortable stills would have to be displayed in certain, hidden, passageways); indeed, some of the film's scenes have been structured purposefully to evoke or mimic some of Rembrandt's own work.
But of course, with its graphic nudity and sexual antics, its latrines, and its strange symbolism, it cannot help but be defined as a bizarre and uncomfortable art film; only, emphasise the "art" aspect of the genre.