Greenaway

Yesterday I had the pleasure of watching Goltzius and the Pelican Company, Peter Greenaway’s 2014 film which I thoroughly enjoyed. I'm already looking forward to my second viewing of the film - when it comes to Greenaway's films, that initial sit-down with the film always feels like a meet and greet - it's only on the second pass that I begin to look beyond the layers the digital imagery and copious male and female nudity, and get to grips with the intricate wordplay, Chinese box plotting, and meticulously constructed canvases. In addition to the pin-sharp looking main feature, the Axiom Blu-Ray, includes a very substantial 58min conversation with Greenaway unraveling the history of Dutch artist Hendrik Goltzius, as well as reflecting on his own past (acknowledging Night Watching as a return to form after the determinedly obscure Tulse Luper Suitcases trilogy) and future, revealing details of his forthcoming biopics of Hieronymus Bosch (which will complete a trilogy of films about Dutch artists) and Russian film maker Sergei Eisenstein, Greenaway's own favourite director. Elsewhere he discusses art, religion, Cinema, music, Michael Nyman, the vagaries of international co-productions, his peculiar choice of having an English-shot film presented with English subtitles (the subs on the BR default to on but are entirely optional) and gives his considered opinion on pubic hair in Renaissance painting and life. Essential viewing.