Review of Nightwatching (2007) by Ryan H — 08 Oct 2010

Director Peter Greenaway becomes himself the hero of his previous triumph, The Belly of an Architect with Nightwatching, a film about the creation of Rembrandt's infamous portrait of a wealthy Dutch militia. In Architect, Greenaway constructs the story of an American architect planning an exhibition in Rome on the works of an obscure French enlightenment-era architect. The American, played wonderfully by Brian Dennehy obsesses over the works and life of Etienne-Louis Boullée, writing him postcards constantly. His obsession is also over his own sickness, and as the title implies, his belly. In Nightwatching, Greenaway, the painting enthusiast obsesses over Rembrandt (especially considering along with Nightwatching, he also made the documentary Rembrandt's J'accuse about the mysteries surrounding the painting, which I have yet to watch).

In the movie, Rembrandt is persuaded to paint the portrait by his wife against his will. When plots and conspiracies begin to spring up amongst the men of the militia, including one mysterious death, illegitimate children in an orphanage/brothel, and mysterious disappearances, Rembrandt decides to pursue the project as a means of exposing the militia as the actors they are. Rembrandt's private life gets thrown into turmoil along the way when his wife falls ill after a troubled pregnancy. Eventually, the painting is completed and Rembrandt is left alone to watch his life fall to pieces.

If you are at all familiar with Greenaway's work, the film's look will not be a surprise at all. Greenaway despises the mainstream's reliance on a novel structure in film making; instead granting primacy to the visuals over the narrative. However, like Architect, Night Watching is rather straightforward by his standards (as opposed to the impossible to follow but undoubted masterpiece The Draughtsman's Contract). His frames are very much constructed like the frames of a painting. Never is anything implied, it is always on screen, though possibly only in allusion. Greenaway first and foremost is a producer of images, and as such, has made some of the most visually spectacular films I've ever seen. Even lesser works like 8 1/2 Women are still visually marvelous, even if otherwise unimpressive.

Also a trademark of Greenaway's work is the pacing. It essentially moves as fast as the average painting. But with so much to be seen, this is never really a hindrance (though bits of the last hour do drag a bit longer than need be). It's masterfully constructed, resulting in an almost Oedipal tragedy by the conclusion.

There is only one issue I can raise with this film, and I'm sure it can be easily explained on thematic grounds. Rembrandt's painting The Night Watch is not a night scene at all, as has been well noted. The painting has darkened over time from what was originally a day setting. Why Greenaway, who undoubtedly knows this, chose to use the painting as it appears now, as opposed to as it must have appeared when new is a bit perplexing. However, given the thematic emphasis Greenaway places on Rembrandt's frequent searching, often on his roof staring blankly into the night's sky, it seems obvious that this wasn't a simple mistake, but rather a calculated decision. Whether or not the painting is a night scene doesn't actually matter to the movie; the night scene that appears at present better serves motifs found in the film, and thus is the more fitting version for the film.

I don't think I would consider this Greenaway's best work. It would be hard for any director to top a film like his 1988 work of art, The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover. However, I feel this film does come close. The drama is more human than in most of Greenaway's works. The characters actually resemble characters as would appear in movies, as opposed to his usual bias toward creating characters as they would appear in paintings. Yet the film is still made with careful magnificence that only Greenaway seems capable. I can't think of another director who can even make some of his worst films look so amazingly good. Luckily, this is not one of his worst films.

Now if only someone could convince Greenaway to make a film about Velazquez.