Highest rated as cast or director
Peter Greenaway's 5 titles from the 1980s have a median Balasaur Score of 74, led by The Draughtsman's Contract (78) and Drowning by Numbers (75), against 61 for those from the 1990s.
Biography
Peter Greenaway, CBE (born 5 April 1942) is a Welsh writer-director, painter, and video artist based in Amsterdam. Throughout the late 1960s and '70s, he produced several experimental documentary/mockumentary shorts while working as a film editor for the Central Office of Information. This early period culminated in "The Falls" (1980), a three-hour mockumentary indexing the strange effects of the VUE (the Violent Unknown Event) on 92 people whose names begin with the letters F-A-L-L. He made his dramatic feature film debut with "The Draughtsman's Contract" (1982), and throughout the 1980s directed a string of critically acclaimed and frequently controversial films: "A Zed & Two Noughts" (1985), "The Belly of an Architect" (1987), "Drowning by Numbers" (1988), and his best-known work, the vicious Thatcher-era satire "The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover" (1989). In the 1990s, he directed the Shakespeare adaptation "Prospero's Books" (1991), controversial religious satire "The Baby of Mâcon" (1993), erotic drama "The Pillow Book" (1996), and "8½ Women" (1999), an homage to the films of Federico Fellini, a major influence on Greenaway. In the early 2000s, Greenaway embarked on the ambitious "Tulse Luper" project, a multimedia body of historical fiction revolving around the life of the eponymous fictional hero. In addition to novels, CD-ROMs, online material, and a touring exhibition, the project spawned a trilogy of feature films: "The Tulse Luper Suitcases, Part 1: The Moab Story" (2003), "The Tulse Luper Suitcases, Part 2: Vaux to the Sea" (2004), and "The Tulse Luper Suitcases, Part 3: From Sark to the Finish" (2004). The trilogy was followed by a fourth feature, "A Life in Suitcases" (2005), which abridges the Tulse Luper saga into a single film. Since the mid 2000s, Greenaway's film work has focused on idiosyncratic, heavily fictionalised biopics dedicated to some of his favourite artists: Dutch Golden Age painter Rembrandt van Rijn in "Nightwatching" (2007), Dutch Baroque engraver Hendrik Goltzius in "Goltzius and the Pelican Company" (2012), Soviet Russian filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein in "Eisenstein in Guanajuato" (2015), and Romanian-French sculptor Constantin Brâncuși in "Walking to Paris" (TBD). Greenaway has lived and worked in Amsterdam since the mid 1990s. He is married to artist Saskia Boddeke, with whom he has two children. He also has two children from a previous marriage to potter Carol Greenaway.
Directed 67
2020s
- 2022
The Exile
Director
2010s
- 2019
The Missing Nail
Director
- 2017
Luther and His Legacy
Director
- 2016
Giovanna D'Arco
Stage Director, Director
- 2015
- 2013
3x3D
Director
- 2012
Goltzius & the Pelican Company
Director
Atomic Bombs on the Planet Earth
Director
2000s
- 2009
The Wedding at Cana
Director
- 2008
- 2007
Peopling The Palaces
Director
- 2005
A Life in Suitcases: A History of Tulse Luper
Director
The Tulse Luper Suitcases, Part 3: From Sark to the Finish
Director
- 2004
Visions of Europe
Director
The European Showerbath
Director
- 2003
The Tulse Luper Suitcases: Antwerp
Director
The Tulse Luper Suitcases, Part 1: The Moab Story
Director
Cinema16: British Short Films
Director
- 2002
The 92 Faces of Peter Greenaway
Director
- 2001
The Man in the Bath
Director
1990s
- 1999
The Death of a Composer: Rosa, a Horse Drama
Director, Stage Director
- 1996
In the Dark
Director
- 1995
Lumière & Company
Director
- 1994
Stairs 1 Geneva
Director
- 1993
- 1992
Darwin
Director
Peter Greenaway: A Documentary
Director
Rosa
Director
- 1991
Prospero's Books
Director
- 1990
A TV Dante
Director
A TV Dante
Director
1980s
- 1989
Death in the Seine
Director
Fear of Drowning
Director
- 1988
- 1987
- 1985
Inside Rooms: 26 Bathrooms, London & Oxfordshire
Director
- 1984
Making a Splash
Director
- 1983
Four American Composers: John Cage
Director
Four American Composers: Robert Ashley
Director
Four American Composers: Meredith Monk
Director
The Sea in Their Blood
Director
Four American Composers: Philip Glass
Director
- 1982
The Falls
Director
- 1981
Zandra Rhodes
Director
Terence Conran
Director
- 1980
Act of God
Director
1970s
- 1979
Leeds Castle
Director
- 1978
Vertical Features Remake
Director
A Walk Through H
Director
Water Wrackets
Director
Eddie Kidd
Director
- 1976
Goole by Numbers
Director
1-100
Director
Dear Phone
Director
Savile Row
Director
- 1974
Windows
Director
- 1973
Intervals
Director
H Is for House
Director
No release date
Walking to Paris
Director
Tower Stories
Director
Wrote 43
2020s
- 2025
Blondi
Writer
- 2022
The Exile
Writer
2010s
- 2019
The Missing Nail
Writer
- 2015
- 2013
3x3D
Writer
- 2012
Goltzius & the Pelican Company
Writer
2000s
- 2008
- 2007
- 2005
A Life in Suitcases: A History of Tulse Luper
Writer
The Tulse Luper Suitcases, Part 3: From Sark to the Finish
Writer
- 2004
Visions of Europe
Writer
- 2003
The Tulse Luper Suitcases: Antwerp
Writer
The Tulse Luper Suitcases, Part 1: The Moab Story
Writer
1990s
- 1999
The Death of a Composer: Rosa, a Horse Drama
Writer
- 1995
- 1993
- 1992
Darwin
Writer
- 1991
Prospero's Books
Screenplay
1980s
- 1989
- 1988
- 1987
- 1985
- 1983
Four American Composers: John Cage
Writer
Four American Composers: Robert Ashley
Writer
Four American Composers: Meredith Monk
Writer
The Sea in Their Blood
Writer
Four American Composers: Philip Glass
Writer
- 1982
The Falls
Writer
- 1981
Zandra Rhodes
Screenplay
1970s
- 1978
Vertical Features Remake
Writer
Water Wrackets
Writer
A Walk Through H
Writer
- 1976
Goole by Numbers
Writer
1-100
Writer
Dear Phone
Writer
- 1974
Windows
Writer
- 1973
H Is for House
Writer
Intervals
Writer
No release date
Walking to Paris
Writer
Tower Stories
Writer
Edited 10
1990s
- 1995
1980s
- 1982
The Falls
Editor
The Pledge
Editor
1970s
- 1978
Vertical Features Remake
Editor
Water Wrackets
Editor
A Walk Through H
Editor
Eddie Kidd
Editor
- 1976
Dear Phone
Editor
- 1974
Windows
Editor
- 1973
H Is for House
Editor
Acted in 7
2010s
- 2019
The Missing Nail
(voice)
- 2018
The Greenaway Alphabet
Peter Greenaway
- 2016
The Curious World of Hieronymus Bosch
Movie
2000s
- 2009
The Wedding at Cana
Some characters (uncredited)
1990s
- 1999
1980s
- 1982
The Falls
Interviewer
1970s
- 1973
H Is for House
(voice)
Camera 4
1970s
- 1978
Vertical Features Remake
Director of Photography
Water Wrackets
Director of Photography
- 1976
Dear Phone
Director of Photography
- 1973
H Is for House
Director of Photography
Produced 1
Other crew 1
1970s
- 1978
A Walk Through H
Scenic Artist
Appearances12
2020s
- 2025
2010s
- 2019
2000s
- 2008
- 2004
Close to Greenaway
Self
- 2003
Cinema16: British Short Films
Self - Commentary, Dear Phone (voice)
- 2002
The 92 Faces of Peter Greenaway
Himself
1990s
- 1999
The Death of a Composer: Rosa, a Horse Drama
Narrator
- 1992
Peter Greenaway: A Documentary
Himself
1980s
- 1989
Fear of Drowning
Himself
1970s
- 1976
Dear Phone
Narrator
- 1974
Windows
Narrator