Peter Greenaway

Peter Greenaway

Directing
Born Apr 05, 1942
From Newport, Gwent, Wales, UK

Peter Greenaway, CBE (born 5 April 1942) is a Welsh writer-director, painter, and video artist based in Amsterdam. Throughout the late 1960s and '70s, he produced several experimental documentary/mockumentary shorts while working as a film editor for the Central Office of Information. This early period culminated in "The Falls" (1980), a three-hour mockumentary indexing the strange effects of the VUE (the Violent Unknown Event) on 92 people whose names begin with the letters F-A-L-L. He made his dramatic feature film debut with "The Draughtsman's Contract" (1982), and throughout the 1980s directed a string of critically acclaimed and frequently controversial films: "A Zed & Two Noughts" (1985), "The Belly of an Architect" (1987), "Drowning by Numbers" (1988), and his best-known work, the vicious Thatcher-era satire "The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover" (1989). In the 1990s, he directed the Shakespeare adaptation "Prospero's Books" (1991), controversial religious satire "The Baby of Mâcon" (1993), erotic drama "The Pillow Book" (1996), and "8½ Women" (1999), an homage to the films of Federico Fellini, a major influence on Greenaway. In the early 2000s, Greenaway embarked on the ambitious "Tulse Luper" project, a multimedia body of historical fiction revolving around the life of the eponymous fictional hero. In addition to novels, CD-ROMs, online material, and a touring exhibition, the project spawned a trilogy of feature films: "The Tulse Luper Suitcases, Part 1: The Moab Story" (2003), "The Tulse Luper Suitcases, Part 2: Vaux to the Sea" (2004), and "The Tulse Luper Suitcases, Part 3: From Sark to the Finish" (2004). The trilogy was followed by a fourth feature, "A Life in Suitcases" (2005), which abridges the Tulse Luper saga into a single film. Since the mid 2000s, Greenaway's film work has focused on idiosyncratic, heavily fictionalised biopics dedicated to some of his favourite artists: Dutch Golden Age painter Rembrandt van Rijn in "Nightwatching" (2007), Dutch Baroque engraver Hendrik Goltzius in "Goltzius and the Pelican Company" (2012), Soviet Russian filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein in "Eisenstein in Guanajuato" (2015), and Romanian-French sculptor Constantin Brâncuși in "Walking to Paris" (TBD). Greenaway has lived and worked in Amsterdam since the mid 1990s. He is married to artist Saskia Boddeke, with whom he has two children. He also has two children from a previous marriage to potter Carol Greenaway.

Known For

Filmography — Acting

Filmography — Crew

The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover

The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover

Director

The Pillow Book

The Pillow Book

Director

Nightwatching

Nightwatching

Director

8 ½ Women

8 ½ Women

Director

The Baby of Mâcon

The Baby of Mâcon

Writer

Lumière & Company

Lumière & Company

Director

The Tulse Luper Suitcases, Part 1: The Moab Story

The Tulse Luper Suitcases, Part 1: The Moab Story

Director

The Draughtsman's Contract

The Draughtsman's Contract

Director

Drowning by Numbers

Drowning by Numbers

Director

Goltzius & the Pelican Company

Goltzius & the Pelican Company

Director

Prospero's Books

Prospero's Books

Director

A Life in Suitcases: A History of Tulse Luper

A Life in Suitcases: A History of Tulse Luper

Director

The Tulse Luper Suitcases, Part 2: Vaux to the Sea

The Tulse Luper Suitcases, Part 2: Vaux to the Sea

Director

A Zed & Two Noughts

A Zed & Two Noughts

Director

Cinema16: British Short Films

Cinema16: British Short Films

Director

Visions of Europe

Visions of Europe

Director

Rembrandt's J'Accuse...!

Rembrandt's J'Accuse...!

Director

The Belly of an Architect

The Belly of an Architect

Director

The Tulse Luper Suitcases: Antwerp

The Tulse Luper Suitcases: Antwerp

Director

The Tulse Luper Suitcases, Part 3: From Sark to the Finish

The Tulse Luper Suitcases, Part 3: From Sark to the Finish

Director

Tower Stories

Tower Stories

Writer

Walking to Paris

Walking to Paris

Director

Tintoretto: A Rebel in Venice

Tintoretto: A Rebel in Venice

Producer

Eisenstein in Guanajuato

Eisenstein in Guanajuato

Director

The Falls

The Falls

Director

A Walk Through H

A Walk Through H

Director

A TV Dante

A TV Dante

Director

3x3D

3x3D

Director

Blondi

Blondi

Writer

A Walk Through Prospero's Library

Director

Making a Splash

Making a Splash

Director

Eddie Kidd

Eddie Kidd

Director

Revolution

Director

The Death of a Composer: Rosa, a Horse Drama

The Death of a Composer: Rosa, a Horse Drama

Director

Inside Rooms: 26 Bathrooms, London & Oxfordshire

Inside Rooms: 26 Bathrooms, London & Oxfordshire

Director

Peopling The Palaces

Peopling The Palaces

Director

Act of God

Act of God

Director

Four American Composers: Philip Glass

Four American Composers: Philip Glass

Director

The Food of Love

Director

Giovanna D'Arco

Giovanna D'Arco

Director

Death in the Seine

Death in the Seine

Director

Dear Phone

Dear Phone

Director

The Sea in Their Blood

The Sea in Their Blood

Director

The Man in the Bath

The Man in the Bath

Director

Four American Composers: John Cage

Four American Composers: John Cage

Director

Tree

Director

Train

Director

Death of Sentiment

Director

Windows

Windows

Director

Luther and His Legacy

Luther and His Legacy

Director

Vertical Features Remake

Vertical Features Remake

Director

M Is for Man, Music and Mozart

Writer

Zandra Rhodes

Zandra Rhodes

Director

Bosch

Writer

Rosa

Rosa

Director

Four American Composers: Meredith Monk

Four American Composers: Meredith Monk

Director

Peter Greenaway: A Documentary

Peter Greenaway: A Documentary

Director

The Wedding at Cana

The Wedding at Cana

Director

Stairs 1 Geneva

Stairs 1 Geneva

Director

Intervals

Intervals

Director

H Is for House

H Is for House

Director

The Missing Nail

The Missing Nail

Director

Erosion

Director

In the Dark

In the Dark

Director

Four American Composers: Robert Ashley

Four American Composers: Robert Ashley

Director

Goole by Numbers

Goole by Numbers

Director

Darwin

Darwin

Director

Terence Conran

Terence Conran

Director

Leeds Castle

Leeds Castle

Director

The European Showerbath

The European Showerbath

Director

Water Wrackets

Water Wrackets

Director

Atomic Bombs on the Planet Earth

Atomic Bombs on the Planet Earth

Director

5 Postcards from Capital Cities

Director

Hubert Bals Handshake

Director

Savile Row

Savile Row

Director

Writing on Water

Director

Fear of Drowning

Fear of Drowning

Director

The 92 Faces of Peter Greenaway

The 92 Faces of Peter Greenaway

Director

1-100

1-100

Director

Greenaway: The Shorts

Director

The Exile

The Exile

Director