We all know that we're going to die, but we don't know when. That's not a blessing, that's a curse. Peter Greenaway More Quotes by Peter Greenaway More Quotes From Peter Greenaway Bill Viola is worth ten Scorseses. Peter Greenaway violatenbills Too many proofs spoil the truth. Peter Greenaway spoilproof Cinema is dead, long live cinema. Peter Greenaway cinemalong I think that films or indeed any art work should be made in a way that they are infinitely viewable; so that you could go back to it time and time again, not necessarily immediately but over a space of time, and see new things in it, or new ways of looking at it. Peter Greenaway spaceartthinking I do indeed think that cinema is mortal. There is a lot of evidence already that it is dying on its feet. Peter Greenaway dyingfeetthinking My heroes among filmmakers would be people like Buñuel and Pasolini, who were of very high cinematic intelligence, but tread on a lot of toes. Peter Greenaway herowould-bepeople As for critics, one mediocre writer is more valuable than ten good critics. They are like haughty, barren spinsters lodged in a maternity ward. Peter Greenaway spinstersbarrenmaternity It seems so tragic to me that so many filmmakers are making movies up against this extra-ordinary revolution with one eye closed and two hands tied behind their backs. Peter Greenaway eyetwohands I have transmitted genetic material, all I have to do between my daughters' birth and my death is to decorate my life. Peter Greenaway my-daughterbirthdaughter If you want to tell stories, be a writer, not a filmmaker. Peter Greenaway filmmakerstorieswant Life is full of a thousand red herrings, and it takes the history of a civilisation to work out which are the red herrings and which aren't. Peter Greenaway redwork-outlife-is Tulse Luper, who without too many confessions, in a sense, is a fictive version of me. I have to say he has far more exciting adventures, and certainly a lot of them sexual, than ever I've experienced. But in a sense, what you do with an alter ego, you give them all sorts of permissions and licences which you know you'll never be able to embrace in your real life. Peter Greenaway realadventuregiving The game Flights of Fancy or Reverse Strip Jump is played from as high a jumping-point as a competitor will dare. After each successful jump, the competitor is allowing to put on an article of clothing. Thirteen jumps is normally more than enough to see a competitor fully dressed for the day. Peter Greenaway jumpingsuccessfulgames I am Welsh by birth, English by education, and European by nature. Peter Greenaway welshbirth I also think that everyone has an elitist approach to his own art, a complex knowledge of it, whether he is a clockmaker or an engineer. And I think it's perfectly legitimate to make use of this knowledge because it enriches the overall texture of life. Peter Greenaway useartthinking You can play lacrosse all over the world provided you know where the goalposts are. Peter Greenaway lacrosseplayworld I like to think of The Falls as my own personal encyclopedia Greenaway-ensis. Peter Greenaway encyclopediafallthinking The start of a film is like a gateway, a formal entrance-point. The first three minutes of a film make great demands on an audience's patience and credulity. A great deal has to be learnt very rapidly about place and attitude, character and intent and ambition. Peter Greenaway ambitionattitudecharacter Continuity is boring. Peter Greenaway continuityboring I acknowledge Mike Leigh and Ken Loach. They are prostlytizers of English socialism preaching to the converted and telling us what we already know. Cinema is best served away from documentary neo-realism. I come from a tradition of post-post-Italian neo-realism in England, where we've produced the best television in the world. But to paraphrase Truffaut, the English have no visual imagination. Peter Greenaway cinemaitalianimagination
