Film 6: Rembrandt / Greenaway

Peter Greenaway is a British film director, known for his works involving Renaissance, Baroque, and Flemish paintings. His extensive study of art makes him a creditable source of information.

Greenaway choose to only discuss the work of Rembrandt entitled "Night Watch" because of the conspiracy's attached to the painting. I believe that this was an affect approach if, and only if Greenaway's sole intention for the documentary was to inform his audience of this painting. However, this is not an affective approach if his goal was to inform us about Rembrandt.

I believe that Greenaway choose Amsterdam as the location for his documentary for two reasons. First, because the scene depicted in "Night Watch" is set is Amsterdam, and secondly because the original painting is stored on display at the Rijksmuseum.

His use of dramatic lighting aided in showing emphasis on different areas of the painting, and added a sense of mystery to the film in general. This is another example of mimicking the artist. Rembrandt uses brighter colors on some characters and darker colors on others.

Discussion Question:
 Do you believe the mysteries that are attached to this painting?