Nightwatching

Nightwatching is a historical drama about the Dutch painter Rembrandt van Rijn and the painting that changed his life. In 1642, at the height of his fame and prosperity, Rembrandt is asked to produce a group portrait of an Amsterdam civic militia company, a commission he initially resists because the subjects are more interested in showing off than in sitting seriously. After a death within the company turns out to have been a concealed murder rather than an accident, he accepts the commission and works hidden references to the crime and to the guilt of those responsible into the canvas. The finished work, later known as The Night Watch, becomes an accusation rather than a tribute, and the powerful men it exposes set out to destroy the painter in return.

Peter Greenaway directed and wrote the film, which follows The Tulse Luper Suitcases, Part 2: Vaux to the Sea in the list of his directed features, and Kees Kasander produced. Martin Freeman plays Rembrandt, with Eva Birthistle as Saskia, Emily Holmes as Hendrickje, Jodhi May as Geertje, and Toby Jones and Jonathan Holmes among the credited cast of 39. The production involved companies and funding from several countries, including the United Kingdom, Canada, the Netherlands and Poland.

The film runs 135 minutes and was released in 2007. Opinion divides sharply: on IMDb it holds 7.3/10 from 11 votes, while on TMDB it stands at 6.2/10 from 79 votes. The two figures come from samples of very different sizes, so the larger TMDB tally carries more weight, though neither points to a broadly popular film.