I think it is really important to be in some way provocative -- either intellectually or viscerally -- in the films one makes. Peter Greenaway More Quotes by Peter Greenaway More Quotes From Peter Greenaway There's no such thing as history, only historians. That's how we know about the past. Peter Greenaway historian knows past We don't need virtual reality, we need virtual unreality. Peter Greenaway unreality reality needs I always think that if you deal with extremely emotional, even melodramatic, subject matter, as I constantly do, the best way to handle those situations is at a sufficient remove. It's like a doctor and a nurse and a casualty situation. You can't help the patient and you can't help yourself by emoting. And I don't think cinema is intended for therapy, so I object also to that huge, massive manipulation which is perpetrated on the public. Peter Greenaway doctors emotional thinking Jean Renoir once suggested that most true creators have only one idea and spend their lives reworking it, but then very rapidly he added that most people don't have any ideas at all, so one idea is pretty amazing. Peter Greenaway renoir people ideas I loved Latin -- the grammar, the difficult tenses, the history -- but for some reason I was very bad at it, shamefully and blushingly bad at it. ... In moments of stress the embarrassment of how bad I was at Latin -- a subject I loved -- really hit me. It was like being laughed at by someone you desperately loved. Peter Greenaway stress moments latin There is visual illiteracy with text-oriented films like bloody 'Harry Potter' and 'Lord of the Rings.'. Peter Greenaway potters film lord If you never lived out your sexuality - it's a great force, and if you try to fight it, what does that create? Energy: positive and negative, self-loathing. Peter Greenaway fighting self trying I am certain that there are two things in life which are dependable: the delights of the flesh and the delights of literature. I have had the good fortune to enjoy them both equally. Peter Greenaway things-in-life together two As you probably know, I'm often accused of intellectual exhibitionism and all forms of elitism. Although I can understand this point of view, it's a rather wasted argument because, if we regard areas of information as being elite and therefore somehow not usable, it means our centre-ground of activity becomes very, very impoverished. Peter Greenaway intellectual views mean I obviously irritate people. I obviously antagonise them. Peter Greenaway people I don't want to be a film-maker. I think painting is far more exciting and profound. It's always at the back of my mind - let's give up this silly business of film-making and concentrate on something more satisfying and worthwhile. Peter Greenaway want profound thinking I don't believe in the deplorable notion of realism in the cinema: you can over-reach it, and it becomes as false as convention. Peter Greenaway realism cinema believe I certainly don't believe you documentary filmmakers. Like me, you are involved in making fiction, and your fiction is just as well organized and just as well predicated, but the big difference between me and you is that I'm honest and you're dishonest. I know I'm telling you lies. Peter Greenaway differences believe lying I can't think of anyone who has done anything remotely useful after the age of 80. Peter Greenaway done age thinking I admit that death is not just about you, it's also about the people who love you. Peter Greenaway love-you people For so many filmmakers, cinema is a means to an end. Peter Greenaway cinema ends mean English culture is highly literary-based. Peter Greenaway culture Cinema basically examines a personality first and the body afterward. Peter Greenaway cinema body personality I imagine if you had built the Newton Memorial outside Paris ... it would have undoubtedly shown the violence of 1870 and 1914 and 1942 and 1945 - even 1968! Consider building a vast cube of stone merely to register the effects of violence - marked and dated as an indictment. Peter Greenaway memorial paris stones I've always been fascinated by Eisenstein. Peter Greenaway fascinated
