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Goltzius and the Pelican Company from Peter Greenaway

stripedcatstripedcat Posts: 6,689
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in Movies #1
Anyone going to watch this? I think that it's released on 11/07/2014. I think it's showing at the BFI Southbank. I suspect that it's getting quite a limited release.

I suspect that Greenaway is a bit out of favour with the cinema going audience nowadays. I think that his last major success was "The Pillow Book". He made "8 and 1/2 Women" then sort of went AWOL for a while(I think he got divorced and went to live in the Netherlands with his new wife and family), then made "Nightwatching" - which again didn't got a limited release.

His latest film got an 18 rating - but from the BBFC descripton and IMDB - it's not as strong as his other works.

I know that he recently got honoured by BAFTA - and is making a film about his hero Eisenstein.

Anyway, like I said, is anyone going to see his latest work?

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    stripedcatstripedcat Posts: 6,689
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    #2
    I take it that is a big "NO" then? :D

    From the reviews(I've seen Kermode, Peter Bradshaw and the New Statesman's one so far) - it has got quite positive notices.
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    RichardReesRichardRees Posts: 2,559
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    #3
    I saw it yesterday at the BFI, introduced by the director, and a Q&A afterwards.

    The reviews are probably quite fair - it is typical Greenaway with copius nudity and violence, quite artistic and stylish at times, and very well shot, but leaving a feeling of mild disbelief and, for me qt least, a general lack of understanding at parts - so par for the course.

    The director himself looked very well, and seems pretty active at the moment, given his age. The film itself was finished a couple of years ago, I assume it has taken that long to confirm distribution.
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    stripedcatstripedcat Posts: 6,689
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    #4
    RichardRees wrote: »
    I saw it yesterday at the BFI, introduced by the director, and a Q&A afterwards.

    The reviews are probably quite fair - it is typical Greenaway with copius nudity and violence, quite artistic and stylish at times, and very well shot, but leaving a feeling of mild disbelief and, for me qt least, a general lack of understanding at parts - so par for the course.

    The director himself looked very well, and seems pretty active at the moment, given his age. The film itself was finished a couple of years ago, I assume it has taken that long to confirm distribution.

    Thank you for the reply. I thought that no one was going to reply.

    Yeah - the film has been in a sort of limbo - for a while.

    Did you like it?

    Yes - Peter looks very well for the interviews that I have seen him. He still plans on killing himself at 80 though. Make of that what you will.
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    RichardReesRichardRees Posts: 2,559
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    #5
    stripedcat wrote: »
    Did you like it?
    In general, yes, albeit, as I say, parts of it passed me by, and the usual unrealistic nature of Greenaway's films. It certainly didn't seem like it lasted over two hours, which is the sign that there was no boredom!

    Are you watching it?
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    CLL DodgeCLL Dodge Posts: 115,878
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    Glad it's got a showing over here at last. The BBFC certified it 18 on Friday for theatrical exhibition. They list it as a BFI release although Axiom are the distributors:

    http://www.axiomfilms.co.uk/films/cinema-provocateur/goltzius-and-the-pelican-company.html
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    stripedcatstripedcat Posts: 6,689
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    #7
    RichardRees wrote: »
    In general, yes, albeit, as I say, parts of it passed me by, and the usual unrealistic nature of Greenaway's films. It certainly didn't seem like it lasted over two hours, which is the sign that there was no boredom!

    Are you watching it?

    Whoops - sorry for the belated reply. As it was in limbo for such a long time - I sort of viewed it by other mean(cough - streaming :D). I was debating whether or not to watch it at the Southbank.

    As for the film, I wouldn't say that it's top tier Greenaway(e.g. The Cook, the Thief, his Wife and her Lover, Prospero's Books and The Pillow Book) - but I did actually enjoy it more than his last work "Nightwatching". Like a lot of Greenaway's films - it goes on far too long. I did enjoy the first third of the film the most. The "multimedia overload" that Greenaway likes to use nowadays in his film(text everywhere and images galore) is a bit too much! I didn't get the whole message of new technology(in this case - the printing press) being subverting by sex and pornography - I had to pick on that from the reviews. It is a challenging film - with some interesting points, but I think on;y dedicated cinephiles will appreciate it.

    I hope that Peter's next film, on his hero Eisenstein, gets a better distribution deal.
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    stripedcatstripedcat Posts: 6,689
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    #8
    I have just re-checked the cinema listings for London - it appears that it is getting a slightly wider release now - I might go and check it out at the Odeon Panton Street(please Odeon - don't close this cinema down!).
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    stripedcatstripedcat Posts: 6,689
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    #9
    Anyone else going to see this, now that it has a wider theatrical release?
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    stripedcatstripedcat Posts: 6,689
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    #10
    I re-watched it at the Odeon Panton Street today. I did enjoy the film a little more on my second viewing - sort of understood it's themes more this time. Ramsey Nasr is superb in his role as Goltzius. Like I said in my original review of it - it goes on for too long and Greenaway has to cut down on the multimedia overload of text and imagery! I also found the subtitles very distracting at times - I've got to say that they weren't needed a lot of the time!
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