Peter Greenaway's Nightwatching Promo-Reel

A wee bit of inspired casting is at work for Peter Greenaway's new film on Rembrandt - Martin Freeman of BBCs The Office and Hitchhikers Guide to The Galaxy (and cameoing recently in Hot Fuzz). The quite meaty (and spoilerific) material on display here is lush (as it ought to be considering the director and the subject matter) and playful, both modern feeling and period piece. Nightwatching seems to be a change of pace for Greenaway after the somewhat baffling Tulse Luper multimedia project.

The film centers around the creation of one of Rembrandt's most famous paintings, The Militia Company of Captain Frans Banning Cocq (The Nightwatch), but also involves conspiracy theories and political plays of the powerful:

"At the insistence of his pregnant wife Saskia, Rembrandt has reluctantly agreed to paint the Amsterdam Musketeer Militia in a group portrait that will later become to be known as The Nightwatch. He soon discovers that there is a conspiracy afoot with the Amsterdam merchants playing at soldiers maneuvering for financial advantage and personal power in, that time, the richest city in the Western World. Rembrandt stumbles on a foul murder. Confident in the birth of a longed-for son and heir, Rembrandt is determined to expose the conspiring murderers and builds his accusation meticulously in the form of the commissioned painting, uncovering the seamy and hypocritical side to Dutch Society in the Golden Age."

Nightwatching is currently in post production with a 2007 (Hmmm, TIFF premiere perhaps?) release date expected.

Trailer (Promo-Reel) (Embedded Quicktime, Viewer Discretion is Advised)

Source: [Kasander's Production site via AICN]