Anybody familiar with his movies? I saw The Belly of an Architect last year for the first time and I've watched it like 6 times since. It's amazing. The only other film of his that I have seen is Prospero's Books, and that is very good, very experimental, but I think that is more typical for him. You MCers know this dude? Got any recos for me?
shareI really liked The Cook, but I HATED The Falls, and that set off a bit of a sour attitude toward all his work. I saw Prospero after that, but when you have a negative opinion of a director, suddenly "expreimental" just becomes "annoying". Still, I'd be willing to give it another shot if you can tell me what you found good about Prospero, I'll keep an eye out.
For me Peter Greenaway falls into that David Lynch sort of territory, where some of his work is visionary, but the rest is hit or miss. Kudos to both directors for breaking away from the norm, though.
For recommendations, I'd say check out Emir Kusturica who has a similar style, but he's a bit more lucid in his presentation. You can always start with "Arizona Dream" (in English) and then check out his native Hungarian works.
I'm not sure I'd be able to sell you on Prospero's Books other than to say I am very receptive to experimental films. I agree it could be very annoying if you're not in the right mindset. I thought the visuals were pretty striking, with the many layered technique creating sort of a dreamlike experience. With a movie like that, it's hard to really pin down what I was responding to other than the mood it put me in was satisfying.
shareIt's definitely the mindset... and I agree the visuals are amazing. On a normal viewing I probably would've loved it since I'm a fan of both creative visuals and creative Shakespeare retelling (LOVED Baz Luhrmann's "Romeo + Juliet").
Seriously it was my reaction to "The Falls" that really put me off. As I recall, it was a very visually bland "mockumentary" about crazy people babbling nonsensically. In other words, deliberately pointless. Not a bad concept, but it just didn't work for me.
Along the lines of "Prospero's Books", maybe you might enjoy the Japanese film "Pistol Opera" which I thought was similar in its disjointed presentation with striking visuals. That's another one I didn't get (possibly due to the language barrier/subtitles?), but I admit it's very well done.
I like Greenaway very much, but I also understand that his work is not always accessible for everyone. Especially his early stuff like "The Fall" and "Vertical Features Remake" is strange to say the least. My recommendation for you would be to watch "The Cook, The Thief, His Wife And Her Lover" and maybe "The Child Of Macon". If you liked those two try "A Zed And Two Noughts".
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