Nightwatching Part III

Peter, I've been listening to an interview, where you stated that you do not particularly like Rembrandt van Rijn - an interesting contrast to Martin Freeman's perception he reveals on the DVD extras btw. Fact is I can definitely see why you do not actually love this person - pompous, self-absorbed. It reminded me of the fact that I used to paint monochromic abstract paintings  just in red for several years, and only one single hue of red btw. As it was at the academy and people were passing by, this was noticed of course. So one day somebody commented: "You must be loving red"."On the contrary", I replied," I hate it, but that is fine because this way I can do whatever I like to it". Yet the outcome and truth was more complicated since by the end I was adoring red.

 Maybe it's just Martin Freeman's excellent portrayal and the way he really achieved what he declaredly set out to do, which was play Rembrandt like a real person struggling with everyday problems and not the iconic painter, that made me feel deeply for this man - at the end I must admit I was in love. Yes, he is pompous and self-absorbed and frankly losing so much touch with reality as to set out to publically insult or accuse his powerful clients, makes it even worse. Self-indulgent idiot, who must show off his intelligence and who believes that nobody can get at him. And yet this is only one side, isn't it?! He could be Hamlet shouting out "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark (the Netherlands)" and there is the moral disgust he is feeling at actually the same issues Hamlet is facing, murder, double moral standards, incest,  colonialism. No, Amsterdam was not a nice place to live in and revealing it this openly - at least as far as the plot of this movie is concerned (I won't be commenting on wether I believeit to be historically correct because that's not a point that seems important to me, as this movie is a work of art and that's how it should be treated - anybody watching a movie and saying, yes ,this is the way it was, is a moron to me, sorry) - needs a disgusted and courageous person with high moral standards. So now we've got to a quite interesting point, something that varies from the usual perception of an artist as a morally at least questionable person, like in Anton Walbrook's favourite poem by his great-grandfather Wilhelm August Wohlbrück, it is the artist, who is just in giving each person his true deserts. I surely love the image of the eye at the end, and yes Peter, here you are right, we should learn to employ it properly and not superficially, and maybe I fancy also the idea that this eye might be love. Once more Martin Freeman is simply amazing in giving his character exactly this contradictory depth.