Peter Greenaway is giving Martin Freeman a little fresh female company in his complex exploration of the life of Rembrandt, Nightwatching.
Previous reports had Sarah Polley and Minnie Driver lined up to play his missus and his mistress, but now the casting quartet of Eva Birthistle (Breakfast On Pluto), Nathalie Press (My Summer Of Love), Emily Holmes (Snakes On A Plane) and Jodhi May (On A Clear Day) will be taking the roles instead. Birthistle has signed on as his wife, while May and Holmes are the other women in his life.
And don’t expect anything straightforward. With 2007 representing the 400th anniversary of the painter’s birth, Rembrandt obsessive Greenaway is planning a multimedia event, with a documentary, exhibition and a stage production planned (though he’s not actually working on that). "The ideas go beyond manufacturing a film," Greenaway explained to Variety. He plans to have the film in cinemas by May next year.