Rembrandt's J'Accuse...!
2008 · 86 MIN · IMDB 7.2 · 1,009 VOTES · DIR. Peter Greenaway
Overview
J'accuse is an 'essay-istic' documentary in which Greenaway's fierce criticism of today's visual illiteracy is argued by means of a forensic search of Rembrandt's Nightwatch. Greenaway explains the background, the context, the conspiracy, the murder and the motives of all its 34 painted characters who have conspired to kill for their combined self-advantage. Greenaway leads us through Rembrandt's paintings into 17th century Amsterdam. He paints a world that is democratic in principle, but is almost entirely ruled by twelve families. The notion exists of these regents as charitable and compassionate beings. However, reality was different.
Dialogue Timeline — 1,700 lines
A SAMPLE ACROSS THE RUNTIME — EVERY LINE IS SEARCHABLE
00:00:24 WOMAN READS: Rembrandt's
00:04:35 the third is the painted ceiling of the Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo
00:09:19 and that special way is to look at it as an accusation
00:14:19 it will certainly take that long to make a painted army.
00:18:57 perhaps universally and maybe locally...
00:23:19 And the last time I saw him, if you don't count his corpse at his funeral
00:28:02 situating them in a most ambitious negotiating position
00:32:22 by far most of the world went to bed at sunset and got up at dawn.
00:36:47 woman discovered to be adulterously pregnant
00:41:30 of your relationship to the seven major personalities accused...
00:44:54 an exhibitionist parvenu.
00:48:33 its draftsmanship
00:53:08 a revenge on God, His Father.
00:57:33 REMBRANDT: Led there by your bold captain
01:02:11 [Gunshot]
01:06:01 the innocent, ignorant trigger puller, hardly to be blamed
01:09:59 as painted by Velasquez.
01:14:33 ACTOR: A whore!
01:18:33 which was carefully arranged and balanced
01:23:10 and then burning them down again to claim the insurance.
01:27:33 and unravel the plot.
01:31:50 The self-portraits increase.
01:35:49 Now the only people happy and constant to employ Rembrandt
30:00:00 from the good burghers of Rotterdam