Peter Greenaway returns to form with this speculative but gorgeously presented account of Rembrandt’s creation of his masterpiece, The Night Watch.
Martin Freeman is outstanding as the lusty young genius who, when commissioned to paint members of the Amsterdam militia in their finery, instead produces a portrait packed with half-hidden insults and an accusation of murder.
Enraged, they set upon a course of vengeance. In the midst of this, Greenaway charts Rembrandt’s extensive love life and pontificates on the revolutionary nature of his art. While the narrative sags as noticeably as one of the Dutch Master’s droopy-breasted models, the visuals are ravishing and the premise intriguing. All this and Tim from The Office’s cock.
