Synopsis: While painting a group portrait of the Amsterdam Musketeer Militia, the renowned Dutch artist Rembrandt (Martin Freeman) discovers a murder plot involving, Rembrandt build his accusation in the form of his painting – “The Night Watch” – a decision which coasts him everything.

***********************************************************************

Nightwatching 7.75

eyelights: the artsy production. Martin Freeman.
eyesores: the obscure subject.

Rembrandt’s ‘De Nachtwacht’ is one of the world’s most famous paintings, along with da Vinci’s ‘La Gioconda’ and ‘L’Ultima Cena’ and Michelangelo’s ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. But few know that it concealed a conspiracy by its participants, a murder that had long been considered a mere accident, and that Rembrandt suffered for divulging these secrets.

Or, at least, that is what writer-director Peter Greenaway proposes.

I know very little about art, let alone about Rembrandt, let alone about ‘The Night Watch’. But I do enjoy Greenaway’s work – particularly because his perspective is usually out of the ordinary and because his work has an aesthetic that I quite appreciate. Add to this the fact that ‘Nightwatching’ has some sexy bits (as do many of Greenaway’s films) and it had to be part of my summer viewing.

The picture focuses entirely on the creation of ‘De Nachtwacht’, from the moment that it was commissioned to the aftermath of its unveiling. It’s told from the perspective of Rembrandt (Martin Freeman) as he discusses this and his personal relationships with his collaborators and confidantes – one of whom is Saskia, his wife and mother to his son, Titus.

I enjoyed how Greenaway gets Freeman to break the fourth wall to provide us with a detailed introduction to Saskia, delving into their personalities and shared history. He totally conveyed the deep friendship that existed between them, the complicity and intimacy that they shared. It looked perfectly idyllic. Whether this was true in real life is another matter.

Greenaway would use this device a few more times to provide exposition and insight into Rembrandt’s mind – something that would typically be extremely difficult to incorporate in a subtle fashion. Had he attempted to do this in a more conventional manner, through dialogues, it probably would have felt rather contrived and make this already lengthy picture grind to a halt.

‘Nightwatching’ is already dense, with nearly all plot developments taking place through dialogue: his commission, the politics behind it, his relationships, all are discussed far more than they are seen. In this sense, the picture is more like a play. But even the staging is like that of theatre, the sets are hardly real-world, even the photography eschews the look of cinema.

Coincidentally, there’s a lengthy speech at the end about ‘De Nachtwacht’ being theatre, on how it doesn’t represent reality (as intended) but remodels it. Nice. The problem for me is that I have no understanding of the context, and thus couldn’t appreciate exactly what Greenaway was alluding most of the time. I’m sure there were countless references that I didn’t get.

I understood the whole conspiracy angle of the story, although some details did escape me (nothing a second viewing wouldn’t fix). Greenaway suggests that Rembrandt’s masterpiece has been subject of a lot of speculation through the centuries and that this one is just one of many theories. Whether it’s rooted in fact or not, I couldn’t say – a quick online glance didn’t reveal anything.

However, Greenaway went even further into this story in his subsequent feature, a documentary called ‘Rembrandt’s J’accuse’. In it, there is further discussion of the clues that hint that this reveals a political conspiracy. I would very much like to see it, and will likely pick up the special edition DVD (which includes it as a special feature) at some point in the future.

As could be expected, I really appreciated the film’s aesthetic qualities. Even the few outdoor shots looked quite nice, but the sets impressed me the most. The costumes were all very nice too (even if some of the wigs weren’t at all convincing). It also features a veritably vibrant soundtrack, with rumbling thunder, birds flying around room, …etc., and a score composed of classical music.

The cast is also quite good. Although Martin Freeman doesn’t leap off the screen, he’s nonetheless superb as the famous Dutch artist. I also rather enjoyed Eva Birthistle (from ‘Ae Fond Kiss…‘) as Saskia, who made her feel three-dimensional, even though she was relegated to the sidelines. Also Jodhi May was appropriately earthy and Emily Holmes was absolutely lovely.

Was the film as sexy as it was made out to be? Well, it took a full 90 minutes before we had a first glimpse at some nudity – aside from Freeman’s own full-frontal nakedness. What there was of it, however was quite splendid to look at, even if it wasn’t especially erotic or explicit. Still, the scenes between Rembrandt and Geertje, in particular, were memorable enough.

And is ‘Nightwatching’ memorable? It certainly is. Although I suspect that one better know Rembrandt’s work to best appreciate it, it does leave an impression – if only because of Greenaway’s stylistic choices. Granted, I felt like I was missing something, and I have no idea if its central theory is well-documented or purely speculative, but it’s fascinating stuff,  either way.

I will no doubt revisit this someday.

Story: 8.0
Acting: 7.5
Production: 8.0

Nudity: 3.0
Sexiness: 3.0
Explicitness: 3.0

Date off viewing: August 18, 2014