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Peter Greenaway

Peter Greenaway

Known For Directing
Birthday Apr 05, 1942 (83)
Birthplace Newport, Gwent, Wales, UK
Popularity 0.3 (history)
Updated Sep 11, 2025
Entry Date Apr 13, 2024
Links TMDb IMDb
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 per ... iod 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.

Known For

Headshots

Profile
Profile
Filmography

The Greenaway Alphabet

The Greenaway Alphabet

2018

as Peter Greenaway

The Wedding at Cana

The Wedding at Cana

2009

as Some characters (uncredited)

8 ½ Women

8 ½ Women

1999

as (uncredited)

Hubert Bals Handshake

Hubert Bals Handshake

1989

as Narrator

The Falls

The Falls

1980

as Interviewer

Dear Phone

Dear Phone

1976

as Narrator

Windows

Windows

1974

as Narrator

H Is for House

H Is for House

1973

as (voice)

Giovanna D'Arco

Giovanna D'Arco

2016

Stage Director

Eisenstein in Guanajuato

Eisenstein in Guanajuato

2015

Screenplay

Rembrandt's J'Accuse...!

Rembrandt's J'Accuse...!

2008

Screenplay

Nightwatching

Nightwatching

2007

Writer

A Life in Suitcases

A Life in Suitcases

2005

Writer

Writing on Water

Writing on Water

2005

Writer

Visions of Europe

Visions of Europe

2004

Writer

8 ½ Women

8 ½ Women

1999

Screenplay

The Death of a Composer: Rosa, a Horse Drama

The Death of a Composer: Rosa, a Horse Drama

1999

Writer, Stage Director

The Pillow Book

The Pillow Book

1995

Writer, Editor

The Baby of Mâcon

The Baby of Mâcon

1993

Writer

Darwin

Darwin

1992

Writer

Prospero's Books

Prospero's Books

1991

Screenplay

Drowning by Numbers

Drowning by Numbers

1988

Writer

A Zed & Two Noughts

A Zed & Two Noughts

1985

Writer

The Pledge

The Pledge

1982

Editor

The Draughtsman's Contract

The Draughtsman's Contract

1982

Screenplay

Zandra Rhodes

Zandra Rhodes

1981

Screenplay

The Falls

The Falls

1980

Writer, Editor

A Walk Through H

A Walk Through H

1979

Editor, Writer, Scenic Artist

Eddie Kidd

Eddie Kidd

1978

Editor

Vertical Features Remake

Vertical Features Remake

1978

Writer, Editor, Director of Photography

Goole by Numbers

Goole by Numbers

1976

Writer

1-100

1-100

1976

Writer

Dear Phone

Dear Phone

1976

Writer, Editor, Director of Photography

Water Wrackets

Water Wrackets

1975

Writer, Editor, Director of Photography

Windows

Windows

1974

Writer, Editor

Intervals

Intervals

1973

Writer

H Is for House

H Is for House

1973

Writer, Editor, Director of Photography

Luther and His Legacy

Luther and His Legacy

2017

Director

Giovanna D'Arco

Giovanna D'Arco

2016

Director

Eisenstein in Guanajuato

Eisenstein in Guanajuato

2015

Director

The Wedding at Cana

The Wedding at Cana

2009

Director

Rembrandt's J'Accuse...!

Rembrandt's J'Accuse...!

2008

Director

Nightwatching

Nightwatching

2007

Director

A Life in Suitcases

A Life in Suitcases

2005

Director

Writing on Water

Writing on Water

2005

Director

Visions of Europe

Visions of Europe

2004

Director

8 ½ Women

8 ½ Women

1999

Director

The Pillow Book

The Pillow Book

1995

Director

Stairs 1 Geneva

Stairs 1 Geneva

1994

Director

The Baby of Mâcon

The Baby of Mâcon

1993

Director

Rosa

Rosa

1992

Director

Darwin

Darwin

1992

Director

Prospero's Books

Prospero's Books

1991

Director

A TV Dante

A TV Dante

1990

Director

Fear of Drowning

Fear of Drowning

1989

Director

Hubert Bals Handshake

Hubert Bals Handshake

1989

Director

Drowning by Numbers

Drowning by Numbers

1988

Director

A Zed & Two Noughts

A Zed & Two Noughts

1985

Director

Making a Splash

Making a Splash

1984

Director

The Sea in Their Blood

The Sea in Their Blood

1983

Director

Zandra Rhodes

Zandra Rhodes

1981

Director

Terence Conran

Terence Conran

1981

Director

The Falls

The Falls

1980

Director

Act of God

Act of God

1980

Director

A Walk Through H

A Walk Through H

1979

Director

Eddie Kidd

Eddie Kidd

1978

Director

Vertical Features Remake

Vertical Features Remake

1978

Director

Goole by Numbers

Goole by Numbers

1976

Director

1-100

1-100

1976

Director

Dear Phone

Dear Phone

1976

Director

Water Wrackets

Water Wrackets

1975

Director

Windows

Windows

1974

Director

Intervals

Intervals

1973

Director

H Is for House

H Is for House

1973

Director

Revolution

Revolution

1967

Director

Death of Sentiment

Death of Sentiment

1962

Director

No data available

Organization Category Movie
Cannes Film Festival Best Picture The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover Nominated
Television Credits

No data available

Kulturplatz

as Self

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 01, 2004

Popularity Metrics

Popularity History


Year Month Avg Max Min
2024 6 8 15 5
2024 7 10 15 4
2024 8 7 16 3
2024 9 8 18 3
2024 10 3 6 1
2024 11 3 5 2
2024 12 4 9 2
2025 1 8 27 2
2025 2 3 6 1
2025 3 1 4 0
2025 4 0 0 0
2025 5 1 2 1
2025 6 0 1 0
2025 7 0 0 0
2025 8 1 6 0
2025 9 0 0 0
2025 10 0 0 0

Trending Rank


Year Month Avg Rank Max Rank
2024 6 774 685
2025 1 745 522
2025 7 576 467
2025 9 5 1

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