Peter Greenaway

Conversations With Filmmakers Series

by Vernon Gras (Editor), Marguerite Gras (Editor), Selim Özgül (Translator)

Hep yenilikçi yanları ve hararetli tartışmalara yol açan filmleriyle dikkat çeken bu kitap, Peter Greenaway'in sinemaya bakışına, filmlerini bir yapaylık ve görsellik üzerine kuruşuna, cinselliği rahatsız edici biçimde kullanmasına ve sinemanın CD-ROM'lar ve internet karşısındaki konumuna dair görüşlerini ortaya koymaktadır...

Genres: Film, Nonfiction

256 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2000

Reviews

[Christian Molenaar · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's fascinating to see these interviews presented in chronological order as if they present a linear narrative of Peter Greenaway's life--linear narrative, of course, being absolutely abhorrent in his eyes, as he reiterates over and over in the conversations presented in this collection. Of course, all his bombastic declamations about the state of "Hollywood cinema" are the least interesting thing Greenaway has to say, so thankfully this collection includes a solid if not exactly in-depth survey of the various production histories his own films, such as the anecdotes about Miramax's US release of The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover.

Perhaps a bit misleading is the book's implication it will cover Greenaway’s work with (at the time) new technologies such as the CD-ROM format in The Tulse Luper Suitcases, which it barely covers. The project was still in its early stages at the time of this collection's publication, but it comes across as little more than tantalizing tease to read of Greenaway's breaking down of cinematic and formal barriers with no actual explanation of what that entails.

The interviews themselves range somewhat widely in quality and density of information. The first three presented as well as those conducted by Tran, Petrakis and Rodman move from boring to superfluous, but aside from these missteps the collection is an excellent peek at Greenaway's production process and influences.

[Judd · Rating 3 out of 5]

Greenaway is a remarkable filmmaker - for "The Falls" if for nothing else. But his work can be a extremely terse and "rigorous". In the end, though, he builds a peculiar relationship with the spectator, and I think that perhaps this book of interviews helps to understand how a guy like Greenaway could manage to make movies, while millions of other obsessives wallow in obscurity.