Britain said "Happy Birthday" to the painters' director called Peter Greenaway

Peter Greenaway, whose films are noted for the distinct influence of Renaissance, Baroque and Flemish painting was 70 years old yesterday.






What you possibly didn't know about Peter, that he :

*  was born in Newport , SouthWales, during The Second World War where his mother was a teacher and father, a builder's merchant and moved  to Essex with the family when he was 3 years old.
 
* in his early years decided to become a painter and became interested in European cinema and the films of Bergman, Jean-Luc-Godard and Resnais.

* began studies at Walthamstow College of Art in 1962, trained as a 'muralist' and made his first film, 'Death of Sentiment', a churchyard furniture essay with crosses, flying angels, typography on grave stones in four large London cemeteries.

* in 1965, joined the Central Office of Information and worked as a film editor for 15 years and in 1966 directed 'Train', about the last steam trains at Waterloo Station and 'Tree', a homage to the embattled tree growing in concrete outside the Royal Festival Hall.

* in the 70's made 'Verticle Features Remake', an examination of  arithmetical editing structures and a journey through the maps of a fictitious country called 'A Walk Through H'.

* made ' The Draughtman's Contract' in 1982,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92-LPtzRfTQ
'A Zed and Two Noughts' in '85,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHW5G6JD0Ro
'The Belly of an Architect' in '87,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkhv8x_pSP8
'Drowning by Numbers' in '88 and his most successful and controversial film, 'The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover' in '89 with a role for an old fellow student and musician Ian Dury.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZG_-iTyQdog

* in 1989, collaborated with artist Tom Phillips on a tv serial, 'A TV Dante'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkxkRpDeFyk
and made 'Prosperos Books' in '91,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pdoUjdaIVM


* in the early 1990's, ten opera libretti his 'Death of a Composer' series dealing with the commonalities of the deaths of 10 composers, some fictitious, but including Anton Webern to John Lennon.
Peter talking about the film : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f60tihPQano

* made 'Rembrant's J'Accuse' in 2008 :
http://vimeo.com/2837439