--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Cinema doesn't connect with the body as…" description: "\"Cinema doesn't connect with the body as artists have in two thousand years of painting, using the nude as the central figure which the ideas seem to ci..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a3b/peter-greenaway-2444_art_cinema-doesn-t-connect-with-the-body-as_254312.png" --- # Cinema doesn't connect with the body as artists have in… ![“Cinema doesn't connect with the body as artists have in two thousand years of painting, using the nude as the central figure which the ideas seem to circulate around. I think it is important to somehow push or stretch or emphasize, in as many ways as I can, the sheer bulk, shape, heaviness, the…” quote by Peter Greenaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a3b/peter-greenaway-2444_art_cinema-doesn-t-connect-with-the-body-as_254312.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a3b/peter-greenaway-2444_art_cinema-doesn-t-connect-with-the-body-as_254312.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a3b/peter-greenaway-2444_art_cinema-doesn-t-connect-with-the-body-as_254312.png) > “Cinema doesn't connect with the body as artists have in two thousand years of painting, using the nude as the central figure which the ideas seem to circulate around. I think it is important to somehow push or stretch or emphasize, in as many ways as I can, the sheer bulk, shape, heaviness, the juices, the actual structure of the body. Cinema basically examines a personality first and the body afterward.” [Peter Greenaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-greenaway/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Cinema should emphasize the physicality of the body, using its mass and texture to explore personality before abstract ideas. **In simple terms:** Film must show the body’s weight and shape to reveal character. Key Takeaway Focus on bodily presence in visual storytelling. Themes film art body politics Mood analytical creative Type critical theoretical When to use this quote - theatre - dance - visual arts Key Concepts visual texture embodiment character study Questions to Reflect On - How can filmmakers balance body focus with story? - What visual techniques highlight bodily texture? A Different Perspective Emphasizing the body can limit abstract narrative depth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Body](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/body/) [Cinema](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cinema/) [Heaviness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heaviness/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Painting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/painting/) [Personality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/personality/) [Shapes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shapes/) [Structure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/structure/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Thousand years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thousand-years/) ## Related quotes > [Cinema basically examines a personality first and the body afterward.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-greenaway/cinema-basically-examines-a-personality-first-and-the-body-afterward/) [Peter Greenaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-greenaway/) > [The novelist is the vestigial bone on the body cinema. We're like the little toe that can be cut off.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-winslow/the-novelist-is-the-vestigial-bone-on-the-body-cinema-we-re-like-the/) [Don Winslow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-winslow/) > [African cinema doesn't have an African industry at all and that's where our problem arises. We come to all of these initiatives with a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jihan-el-tahri/african-cinema-doesn-t-have-an-african-industry-at-all-and-that-s/) [Jihan El-Tahri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jihan-el-tahri/) > [Never seek financial independence in independent cinema since independent cinema doesn't make money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitra-farahani/never-seek-financial-independence-in-independent-cinema-since/) Mitra Farahani > [If I'm in theatre, cinema doesn't even cross my mind. Similarly when I'm making a film, theatre doesn't cross my mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hurt/if-i-m-in-theatre-cinema-doesn-t-even-cross-my-mind-similarly-when-i/) [John Hurt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hurt/) > [For people to understand, you can't speak 'cinema.' Cinema doesn't have alphabets, so you have to go to the local language. Even in England,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suhasini-maniratnam/for-people-to-understand-you-can-t-speak-cinema-cinema-doesn-t-have/) [Suhasini Maniratnam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suhasini-maniratnam/) > [French cinema has always been very interesting, and it's still very powerful. I think it goes to show that it's great to still have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-leterrier/french-cinema-has-always-been-very-interesting-and-it-s-still-very/) [Louis Leterrier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-leterrier/) > [I guess I'm part of the art house, but we really have to shake up our ideas, because we're kind of self-parodying ourselves. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-mullan/i-guess-i-m-part-of-the-art-house-but-we-really-have-to-shake-up-our/) [Peter Mullan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-mullan/) > [Art reflects society. Cinema doesn't dictate - you portray what the society demands.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonam-kapoor/art-reflects-society-cinema-doesn-t-dictate-you-portray-what-the/) [Sonam Kapoor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonam-kapoor/) > [I don't believe in proper cinema; it doesn't have the strength of television. 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Amy could feel it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-strout/by-the-time-they-were-pulling-into-the-parking-lot-of-the-a-p-the/) [Elizabeth Strout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-strout/) > [Do you love this world? Do you cherish your humble and silky life? Do you adore the green grass, with its terror beneath? Do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/do-you-love-this-world-do-you-cherish-your-humble-and-silky-life-do/) [Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/) > [“Let us not burthen our remembrance with A heaviness that's gone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/let-us-not-burthen-our-remembrance-with-a-heaviness-that-s-gone/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) ## More by Peter Greenaway > [American actors are coy. We all have pricks and cunts, or are you different from the rest of us?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-greenaway/american-actors-are-coy-we-all-have-pricks-and-cunts-or-are-you/) [Peter Greenaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-greenaway/) > [I want to be a prime creator - as every self-regarding artist should do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-greenaway/i-want-to-be-a-prime-creator-as-every-self-regarding-artist-should-do/) [Peter Greenaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-greenaway/) > [To be an atheist you have to have ten thousand times more imagination than if you are a religious fundamentalist. You must take the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-greenaway/to-be-an-atheist-you-have-to-have-ten-thousand-times-more-imagination/) [Peter Greenaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-greenaway/an-american-critic-wrote-that-she-would-rather-be-forced-to-read-the/) [Peter Greenaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-greenaway/) > [I like a lot of glasses about - it highers the tone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-greenaway/i-like-a-lot-of-glasses-about-it-highers-the-tone/) [Peter Greenaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-greenaway/) > [There are those who think that Zeffirelli's Hamlet is the way to treat Shakespeare. I think that cinema can handle much more. We somehow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-greenaway/there-are-those-who-think-that-zeffirelli-s-hamlet-is-the-way-to/) [Peter Greenaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-greenaway/) > [A really intelligent man makes an indifferent painter. For painting requires a certain blindness, a partial refusal to be aware of all the options.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-greenaway/a-really-intelligent-man-makes-an-indifferent-painter-for-painting/) [Peter Greenaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-greenaway/) > [I have often thought it was very arrogant to suppose you could make a film for anybody but yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-greenaway/i-have-often-thought-it-was-very-arrogant-to-suppose-you-could-make-a/) [Peter Greenaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-greenaway/) > [I believe that cinema died on the 31 September 1983 when the zapper, or the remote control, was introduced into the living rooms of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-greenaway/i-believe-that-cinema-died-on-the-31-september-1983-when-the-zapper/) [Peter Greenaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-greenaway/) > [My biggest critical success was 'The Draughtsman's Contract,' but then it wasn't the English who particularly thought so; it was the French, who are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-greenaway/my-biggest-critical-success-was-the-draughtsman-s-contract-but-then/) [Peter Greenaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-greenaway/) > [There are basically only two subject matters in all Western culture: sex and death. 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We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-greenaway/there-are-basically-only-two-subject-matters-in-all-western-culture/) [Peter Greenaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-greenaway/) > [Cinema is far too rich and capable a medium to be merely left to the storytellers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-greenaway/cinema-is-far-too-rich-and-capable-a-medium-to-be-merely-left-to-the/) [Peter Greenaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-greenaway/) > [Jean Renoir once suggested that most true creators have only one idea and spend their lives reworking it, but then very rapidly he added…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-greenaway/jean-renoir-once-suggested-that-most-true-creators-have-only-one-idea/) [Peter Greenaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-greenaway/) > [Bill Viola is worth ten Scorseses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-greenaway/bill-viola-is-worth-ten-scorseses/) [Peter Greenaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-greenaway/) > [If Good approved of his creature's creation, He breathed the painted clay-model into life by signing His name.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-greenaway/if-good-approved-of-his-creature-s-creation-he-breathed-the-painted/) [Peter Greenaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-greenaway/) [Explore all 166 Peter Greenaway quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-greenaway/) ## More Art quotes > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. Accordingly...they became abominably wicked, and they were justly exterminated by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/before-noah-men-having-only-water-to-drink-could-not-find-the-truth/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“Hear the sum of the whole matter in the compass of one brief word — every art possessed by man comes from Prometheus.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/hear-the-sum-of-the-whole-matter-in-the-compass-of-one-brief-word/) [Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/) > [I think most artists feel like they're outside society - no matter how many accolades they receive, or how much money is in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-rose/i-think-most-artists-feel-like-they-re-outside-society-no-matter-how/) [Aaron Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-rose/) > [The capacity to be puzzled is the premise of all creation, be it in art or in science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/the-capacity-to-be-puzzled-is-the-premise-of-all-creation-be-it-in/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [That's the great secret of creativity. You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“So, really," continued Jacob as if this were perfectly normal to expound on art in these circumstances, "when you think about it, the artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justina-chen-headley/so-really-continued-jacob-as-if-this-were-perfectly-normal-to-expound/) [Justina Chen Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justina-chen-headley/) > [“There are two options in art; either to adopt philosophical life by dissecting art, or to write your own philosophical life and claim it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taf-teh/there-are-two-options-in-art-either-to-adopt-philosophical-life-by/) Taf Teh > [The house has to serve comfort. The work of art is revolutionary; the house is conservative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-loos/the-house-has-to-serve-comfort-the-work-of-art-is-revolutionary-the/) [Adolf Loos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-loos/) > [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [I think a business guy is different from an artist. They walk different paths. Artists create the best outputs when they're having fun. 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