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Peter Greenaway

Known For
Directing

Known Credits
21

Gender
Male

Birthday
April 5, 1942 (84 years old)

Place of Birth
Newport, Gwent, Wales, UK

Peter Greenaway

Biography

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

Writing

2025Blondi...Writer
2019The Missing Nail...Writer
2015Eisenstein in Guanajuato...Screenplay
20133x3D...Writer
2012Goltzius & the Pelican Company...Writer
2008Rembrandt's J'Accuse...!...Screenplay
2007Nightwatching...Writer
2006Greenaway: The Shorts...Writer
2005Writing on Water...Writer
2005A Life in Suitcases: A History of Tulse Luper...Writer
2005The Tulse Luper Suitcases, Part 3: From Sark to the Finish...Writer
2004The Tulse Luper Suitcases, Part 2: Vaux to the Sea...Writer
2004Visions of Europe...Writer
2003The Tulse Luper Suitcases: Antwerp...Writer
2003The Tulse Luper Suitcases, Part 1: The Moab Story...Writer
1999The Death of a Composer: Rosa, a Horse Drama...Writer
19998 ½ Women...Screenplay
1995The Pillow Book...Writer
1993The Baby of Mâcon...Writer
1992Darwin...Writer
1991M Is for Man, Music and Mozart...Writer
1991Prospero's Books...Screenplay
1989The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover...Screenplay
1988Drowning by Numbers...Writer
1987The Belly of an Architect...Writer
1985A Zed & Two Noughts...Writer
1983Four American Composers: Robert Ashley...Writer
1983Four American Composers: Meredith Monk...Writer
1983Four American Composers: John Cage...Writer
1983The Sea in Their Blood...Writer
1983Four American Composers: Philip Glass...Writer
1982The Draughtsman's Contract...Screenplay
1982The Falls...Writer
1981Zandra Rhodes...Screenplay
1978Vertical Features Remake...Writer
1978Water Wrackets...Writer
1978A Walk Through H...Writer
1976Goole by Numbers...Writer
19761-100...Writer
1976Dear Phone...Writer
1974Windows...Writer
1973Intervals...Writer
1973H Is for House...Writer
The Food of Love...Writer
Bosch...Writer
Walking to Paris...Writer
Tower Stories...Writer

Directing

2019The Missing Nail...Director
2017Luther and His Legacy...Director
2016Giovanna D'Arco...Stage Director
2016Giovanna D'Arco...Director
2015Eisenstein in Guanajuato...Director
20133x3D...Director
2012Goltzius & the Pelican Company...Director
2012Atomic Bombs on the Planet Earth...Director
2009The Wedding at Cana...Director
2008Rembrandt's J'Accuse...!...Director
2007Nightwatching...Director
2007Peopling The Palaces...Director
2006Greenaway: The Shorts...Director
2005Writing on Water...Director
2005A Life in Suitcases: A History of Tulse Luper...Director
2005The Tulse Luper Suitcases, Part 3: From Sark to the Finish...Director
2004The Tulse Luper Suitcases, Part 2: Vaux to the Sea...Director
2004Visions of Europe...Director
2004The European Showerbath...Director
2003The Tulse Luper Suitcases: Antwerp...Director
2003The Tulse Luper Suitcases, Part 1: The Moab Story...Director
2003Cinema16: British Short Films...Director
2002The 92 Faces of Peter Greenaway...Director
2001The Man in the Bath...Director
1999The Death of a Composer: Rosa, a Horse Drama...Director
1999The Death of a Composer: Rosa, a Horse Drama...Stage Director
19998 ½ Women...Director
1996In the Dark...Director
1995Lumière & Company...Director
1995The Pillow Book...Director
1994Stairs 1 Geneva...Director
1993The Baby of Mâcon...Director
1992Darwin...Director
1992Peter Greenaway: A Documentary...Director
1992Rosa...Director
1992A Walk Through Prospero's Library...Director
1991M Is for Man, Music and Mozart...Director
1991Prospero's Books...Director
1990A TV Dante...Director
1990A TV Dante...Director
1989Death in the Seine...Director
1989The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover...Director
1989Fear of Drowning...Director
1989Hubert Bals Handshake...Director
1988Drowning by Numbers...Director
1987The Belly of an Architect...Director
1985A Zed & Two Noughts...Director
1985Inside Rooms: 26 Bathrooms, London & Oxfordshire...Director
1984Making a Splash...Director
1983Four American Composers: Robert Ashley...Director
1983Four American Composers: Meredith Monk...Director
1983Four American Composers: John Cage...Director
1983The Sea in Their Blood...Director
1983Four American Composers: Philip Glass...Director
1982The Draughtsman's Contract...Director
1982The Falls...Director
1981Zandra Rhodes...Director
1981The Exile...Director
1981Terence Conran...Director
1980Act of God...Director
1979Leeds Castle...Director
1978Vertical Features Remake...Director
1978Water Wrackets...Director
1978A Walk Through H...Director
1978Eddie Kidd...Director
1976Goole by Numbers...Director
19761-100...Director
1976Dear Phone...Director
1976Savile Row...Director
1974Windows...Director
1973Intervals...Director
1973H Is for House...Director
1971Erosion...Director
1968Revolution...Director
19675 Postcards from Capital Cities...Director
1966Train...Director
1966Tree...Director
1962Death of Sentiment...Director
The Food of Love...Director
Bosch...Director
Walking to Paris...Director
Tower Stories...Director

Production

2019Tintoretto: A Rebel in Venice...Producer

Editing

1995The Pillow Book...Editor
1982The Falls...Editor
1982The Pledge...Editor
1978Vertical Features Remake...Editor
1978Water Wrackets...Editor
1978A Walk Through H...Editor
1978Eddie Kidd...Editor
1976Dear Phone...Editor
1974Windows...Editor
1973H Is for House...Editor
Tie and Dye...Editor

Camera

1978Vertical Features Remake...Director of Photography
1978Water Wrackets...Director of Photography
1976Dear Phone...Director of Photography
1973H Is for House...Director of Photography

Crew

1978A Walk Through H...Scenic Artist

Acting

2025Ritratti di cinemaas Self
2023Peter Greenaway: The Film Architect - Beyond The Belly of an Architectas Himself
2019The Missing Nailas (voice)
2019Tintoretto: A Rebel in Veniceas Self
2018The Greenaway Alphabetas Peter Greenaway
2016The Curious World of Hieronymus Boschas
2009The Wedding at Canaas Some characters (uncredited)
2008Rembrandt's J'Accuse...!as Himself / Public Prosecutor
2004Close to Greenawayas Self
2004Kulturplatzas Self
2003Cinema16: British Short Filmsas Self - Commentary, Dear Phone (voice)
2002The 92 Faces of Peter Greenawayas Himself
1999The Death of a Composer: Rosa, a Horse Dramaas Narrator
19998 ½ Womenas (uncredited)
1992Peter Greenaway: A Documentaryas Himself
1989Fear of Drowningas Himself
1989Hubert Bals Handshakeas Narrator
1982The Fallsas Interviewer
1976Dear Phoneas Narrator
1974Windowsas Narrator
1973H Is for Houseas (voice)