--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It's very difficult to understand, but…" description: "\"It's very difficult to understand, but I'm looking for a nonnarrative, multiscreen, present-tense cinema. Narrative is an artifact created by us. It do..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1fe/peter-greenaway-2444_cinema_it-s-very-difficult-to-understand-but-i_3158726.png" --- # It's very difficult to understand, but I'm looking for a… ![“It's very difficult to understand, but I'm looking for a nonnarrative, multiscreen, present-tense cinema. Narrative is an artifact created by us. It does not exist at all in nature; it is a construct made by us, and I wonder whether we need the narrative anymore.” quote by Peter Greenaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1fe/peter-greenaway-2444_cinema_it-s-very-difficult-to-understand-but-i_3158726.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1fe/peter-greenaway-2444_cinema_it-s-very-difficult-to-understand-but-i_3158726.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1fe/peter-greenaway-2444_cinema_it-s-very-difficult-to-understand-but-i_3158726.png) > “It's very difficult to understand, but I'm looking for a nonnarrative, multiscreen, present-tense cinema. Narrative is an artifact created by us. It does not exist at all in nature; it is a construct made by us, and I wonder whether we need the narrative anymore.” [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. Explores desire for non‑linear, multi‑screen, present‑tense film beyond traditional storytelling **In simple terms:** Seeks cinema that shows moments without a single narrative thread Key Takeaway Consider experimental formats that break linear storytelling Themes cinema experimentation media theory Mood curious introspective Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - film festivals - art installations - educational workshops - media criticism Key Concepts Narrative construct perception reality Questions to Reflect On - How does removing narrative affect emotional engagement? - What structures replace narrative for coherence? A Different Perspective Narrative may still help audiences find meaning; abandoning it can alienate viewers ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cinema](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cinema/) [Difficult To Understand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/difficult-to-understand/) [Narrative](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/narrative/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Storytelling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/storytelling/) [Wonder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wonder/) ## Related quotes > [There's no relationship to the narrative anymore. People want their own interpretation of history. We're compartmentalizing, forgetting what came directly before, like it's not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ariel-pink/there-s-no-relationship-to-the-narrative-anymore-people-want-their/) [Ariel Pink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ariel-pink/) > [We are narrative creatures, and we need narrative nourishment-nar rative catechisms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-d-wilson/we-are-narrative-creatures-and-we-need-narrative-nourishment-nar/) [N.D. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-d-wilson/) > [To create a collection, you need a narrative - an explanation to tell the team.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dries-van-noten/to-create-a-collection-you-need-a-narrative-an-explanation-to-tell/) [Dries van Noten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dries-van-noten/) > [We need narrative; it feeds us in a particular way, and deconstructing it completely before you've actually experienced it, I think it leaves us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joss-whedon/we-need-narrative-it-feeds-us-in-a-particular-way-and-deconstructing/) [Joss Whedon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joss-whedon/) > [People need a narrative, and if there isn't one on offer, they make one up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-hanff-korelitz/people-need-a-narrative-and-if-there-isn-t-one-on-offer-they-make-one/) [Jean Hanff Korelitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-hanff-korelitz/) > [Americans don't understand what metaphor in cinema is about. They're extremely good at making straightforward, linear narrative movies, which entertain superbly. But they very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-greenaway/americans-don-t-understand-what-metaphor-in-cinema-is-about-they-re/) [Peter Greenaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-greenaway/) > [“it is difficult to understand that not everyone in the world wants to be an American.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-cumings/it-is-difficult-to-understand-that-not-everyone-in-the-world-wants-to/) Bruce Cumings > [People in the U.S. always got to be spoon-fed. If it's something to difficult to understand, they don't give it a chance. They want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phife-dawg/people-in-the-u-s-always-got-to-be-spoon-fed-if-it-s-something-to/) [Phife Dawg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phife-dawg/) > [I think it's quite difficult to understand what kind of life a writer leads. They might be millionaires, or they might be starving people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kazuo-ishiguro/i-think-it-s-quite-difficult-to-understand-what-kind-of-life-a-writer/) [Kazuo Ishiguro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kazuo-ishiguro/) > [“I'd always thought it was gaudy, but standing there watching him beside the gold and glass shrine, I realised that his was a candlelight…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natasha-pulley/i-d-always-thought-it-was-gaudy-but-standing-there-watching-him/) [Natasha Pulley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natasha-pulley/) > [“the seriousness of emotional deprivation: It is not difficult to understand how children who have suffered from malnutrition or starvation need food and plenty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-z-danielewski/the-seriousness-of-emotional-deprivation-it-is-not-difficult-to/) [Mark Z. Danielewski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-z-danielewski/) > [People do not avoid the Bible because it is difficult to understand as much as because what they understand condemns their conscience and throws…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-j-rushdoony/people-do-not-avoid-the-bible-because-it-is-difficult-to-understand/) [R.J. Rushdoony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-j-rushdoony/) > [Most profoundly deaf people have speech that is very difficult to understand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-masur/most-profoundly-deaf-people-have-speech-that-is-very-difficult-to/) [Richard Masur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-masur/) > [We are different. We are equal in every way but our voices are important to each other and our need to want to listen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liv-ullmann/we-are-different-we-are-equal-in-every-way-but-our-voices-are/) [Liv Ullmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liv-ullmann/) > [“One of Nature's deep secrets is the fact that the outcomes of the laws of Nature do not have to possess the same symmetries…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-barrow/one-of-nature-s-deep-secrets-is-the-fact-that-the-outcomes-of-the/) [John D. Barrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-barrow/) ## 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. We do have some ability to manipulate sex nowadays. 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 doesn't connect with the body as artists have in two thousand years of painting, using the nude as the central figure which the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-greenaway/cinema-doesn-t-connect-with-the-body-as-artists-have-in-two-thousand/) [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/) [Explore all 166 Peter Greenaway quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-greenaway/) ## More Cinema quotes > [I made, like, five movies while I was in college. I think they just weren't memorable movies. I've taken breaks as the years have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jodie-foster/i-made-like-five-movies-while-i-was-in-college-i-think-they-just/) [Jodie Foster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jodie-foster/) > [You have to have a great director to make a great movie.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thelma-schoonmaker/you-have-to-have-a-great-director-to-make-a-great-movie/) [Thelma Schoonmaker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thelma-schoonmaker/) > [I'm trying to write a film with my friend. I'd love to get the thrill of speaking actors making my work even funnier.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-howard/i-m-trying-to-write-a-film-with-my-friend-i-d-love-to-get-the-thrill/) [Russell Howard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-howard/) > [I wasn't attracted to American cinema, but I fell in love with Los Angeles the minute I arrived.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-varda/i-wasn-t-attracted-to-american-cinema-but-i-fell-in-love-with-los/) [Agnes Varda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-varda/) > [There was a time in the 1980s when I worked in 22 films a year.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/radha-ravi/there-was-a-time-in-the-1980s-when-i-worked-in-22-films-a-year/) [Radha Ravi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/radha-ravi/) > [To an ever greater extent out experience is governed by pictures, pictures in newspapers and magazines, on television and in the cinema. Next to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-crimp/to-an-ever-greater-extent-out-experience-is-governed-by-pictures/) [Douglas Crimp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-crimp/) > [In the future, I would like to do more films with contemporary themes. Perhaps comedy, which is something I have done in theater but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luke-evans/in-the-future-i-would-like-to-do-more-films-with-contemporary-themes/) [Luke Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luke-evans/) > [I am tired of our characters being so incomplete. When do we ever save the day in a film? When does a Latino actor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esai-morales/i-am-tired-of-our-characters-being-so-incomplete-when-do-we-ever-save/) [Esai Morales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esai-morales/) > [I love film people and actors and I am in the right world because I am one of those people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ewan-mcgregor/i-love-film-people-and-actors-and-i-am-in-the-right-world-because-i/) [Ewan McGregor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ewan-mcgregor/) > [Personally, I prefer contemporary films, but the market calls for more period choices, especially since China opened up a cinema market in Hong Kong.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donnie-yen/personally-i-prefer-contemporary-films-but-the-market-calls-for-more/) [Donnie Yen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donnie-yen/) > [I'd love to work in the States; I'd love to work anywhere where you get a good script and a good part to play.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-carmichael/i-d-love-to-work-in-the-states-i-d-love-to-work-anywhere-where-you/) [Laura Carmichael](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-carmichael/) > [I even see the cinema itself as a woman, with its alternation of light and darkness, of appearing and disappearing images](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/federico-fellini/i-even-see-the-cinema-itself-as-a-woman-with-its-alternation-of-light/) [Federico Fellini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/federico-fellini/) > ['Rear Window' isn't really a horror film, but it is a psychological drama, which I love. It is very tense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-silvers/rear-window-isn-t-really-a-horror-film-but-it-is-a-psychological/) [Diana Silvers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-silvers/) > [What a thrill. You know you've entered new territory when you realise that your outfit cost more than your film.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-yu/what-a-thrill-you-know-you-ve-entered-new-territory-when-you-realise/) Jessica Yu > [I am not interested in churning out a certain number of films every year. For me, it's about the quality of work. I think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepika-padukone/i-am-not-interested-in-churning-out-a-certain-number-of-films-every/) [Deepika Padukone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepika-padukone/) [Browse all 23,940 Cinema quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cinema/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It's very difficult to understand, but I'm looking for a nonnarrative, multiscreen, present-tense cinema. Narrative is an artifact created by us. 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