01/03/2005

British director Peter Greenaway is working on a film about Dutch 17th century artist Rembrandt van Rijn. Entitled Nightwatching, The film will focus on the gestation and process of painting 'The Nightwatch', Rembrandt's most famous work, which has been described as "recapitulation of the ideals of Rembrandt's first ten Amsterdam years, is the last painting in which he strives for brilliant external effects. In that period the painter lost three children and his wife.
"The Nightwatch was the beginning of the end for Rembrandt. Not many people know the story," explained Kees Kasander from Kasander Film Company.
Greenaway (a painter and artist himself) will design a special installation for the Rijksmuseum, where it will stand next to the original Nightwatch' painting. This work will be unveiled upon the film's release.
The artist's life has inspired several films, including Alexander Korda's 1936 biopic Rembrandt, with Charles Laughton in the lead, and Dutch director Jos Stelling's Rembrandt fecit 1669.

The English-French-German-Dutch co-production should premiere in 2006 to mark the 400th anniversary of the artist. The budget of the film is around EUR 6 million ($7.7 million). Filming is scheduled to start this autumn and casting will start in a few months. Kasander Film Company has produced several of Greenaway's movies, including The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover and Prospero's Books.

(Translated from French)