Not going to Cannes.

[deleted]

Sorry it's taken over a year to answer to this, who knows if anyone will read this reply, but I felt compelled to write a response after revisiting this post.

"And I think the point of making movies (like any artwork) is to express yourself."

Too true, sir, too true...

"It doesn't have to be accessible."

... but, I have to say, this is where you're dead wrong. Feel free to disagree, but I am a firm believer that the most important aspect of any piece, reguardless of form or medium, is accessibility.

If a tree falls in the woods and no one is around to hear it, it does not make a noise. Sound only exists when there is a generator and a receptor. Artistic expression is like sound: if an artist displays a piece of work, and no one is around to understand it, have they expressed anything? No, they haven't.

This isn't to say that no one understands Peter Greenway's films, obviously that can't be true, but what my point is, is that based on what I've experienced in Greenway's lecture and while watching a portion of his film, the window of accesibilty was narrowed to tightly, and seemed to be so inntentional, that what he was bordering on was artisitic eliteism (and yet, those in company couldn't help but express their admiration for the film and his ideas (which is why I called him a hack)). Art is for everyone and no one should be made to feel that they're being left out, ignored or patronized.

So now, because of my first impression with this man and his work, I can't watch anything else he's done. I guess that's a shame, considering the praise he's received, but that's the image I have and I find it insulting.

One last note, I didn't imply that Greenway fans are idiots.
"It doesn't take an idiot to hate Peter Greenway." What that means is that I myself am not an idiot for hating Peter Greenway. What it does not is that anyone who doesn't hate him, is.