“Imagine a world where nothing is stable. In the West, we have three moving elements -- Air, Fire, Water -- but at least we can depend on the fourth.” WorldMovingThreeWaterFireImagineAirDependsElementsWestStableFourth Book:Eight and a half women Source: Eight and a half women
“One of my heroes, almost necessarily from what I'm saying, of course, is Borges, who is a supreme master of doing thing -- being a data bank -- and the beauty of this economy is that he could have written War and Peace in three or four pages; who knows, it might have been a better book.” KnowsHas BeensBookWarMightThreeCoursesEconomyFourWrittenMastersHeroPagesSupremeDataMight Have BeenMy HeroBorges Author:Peter Greenaway
“I made a very bad mistake; I miscounted these scraps of information on the record as 92, and in continual homage to this man who had been so influential to me, I began creating or constructing my own films on this so-called "magic" number of 92 ... but when I eventually made a film about John Cage and met him, I explained this to him, and he found it very amusing because there are only 90 stories on the two sides of the record, and I'd based three years of my filmic career on this mathematical error!” MenYearsMadeTwoStoriesFilmThreeFoundSidesMy OwnNumbersMistakeCareersRecordsMagicInformationMetsCreatingErrorsMathematicalThree YearsCagesInfluentialAmusingTwo SidesScrapHomageBad Mistake Author:Peter Greenaway
“My audience is comprised of three categories. The first category contains the people who decide after the first five minutes that they've made a mistake and leave. The second category is the people who give the film a chance and leave annoyed after 40 minutes. The third category includes the people that watch the whole film and return to see it again. If I'm able to persuade 33% of the audience to stay, then I can say that I've succeeded.” PeopleIfsGivingFirstsMadeI CanWholeAbleFilmThreeChanceMistakeWatchesAudienceFiveMinutesReturnThirdsCategoriesFive MinutesAnnoyedMade A Mistake Author:Peter Greenaway
“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.” FirstsCharacterFilmThreeDealsAttitudeAudienceMinutesDemandAmbitionFormalEntrancesCredulityGateways Author:Peter Greenaway
“An American critic wrote that she would rather be forced to read the New York telephone directory three times than watch the film A Zed and Two Noughts, a third of which was a homage to Vermeer. Conceivably, if you are a list-enthusiast like me, the New York telephone directory might be fascinating, demographically, geographically, historically, typographically, cartographically; but I am sure no compliment was intended.” IfsTwoMightFilmThreeWatchesNew YorkThirdsCriticsListsLike MeFascinatingComplimentTelephonesThree TimesHomageVermeer Author:Peter Greenaway
“I was born on the 5th April 1942. On Good Friday. Round about crucifixion time. Archbishop Ussher, a man for dates, who calculated that the world began on September 27th 4004 BC, says the crucifixion took place at three o'clock in the afternoon on Good Friday in the year 33 AD. I was right on time.” MenWorldYearsThreeBornRoundsClockAfternoonAdsSeptemberFridayAprilCrucifixionGood Friday Author:Peter Greenaway
“I've always been fascinated by maps and cartography. A map tells you where you've been, where you are, and where you're going -- in a sense it's three tenses in one.” ThreeMapsWhere You AreFascinatedCartography Book:Peter Greenaway: Interviews Source: Peter Greenaway: Interviews
