--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There are those who think that…" description: "\"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 expect cinema ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e40/peter-greenaway-2444_art_there-are-those-who-think-that-zeffirell_95311.png" --- # There are those who think that Zeffirelli's Hamlet is the… ![“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 expect cinema to provide us with meaning, to console us. But that's not the purpose of art.” quote by Peter Greenaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e40/peter-greenaway-2444_art_there-are-those-who-think-that-zeffirell_95311.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e40/peter-greenaway-2444_art_there-are-those-who-think-that-zeffirell_95311.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e40/peter-greenaway-2444_art_there-are-those-who-think-that-zeffirell_95311.png) > “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 expect cinema to provide us with meaning, to console us. But that's not the purpose of art.” [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 not be reduced to a therapeutic tool; its purpose lies beyond providing comfort or explicit meaning. **In simple terms:** Film isn’t just therapy. Key Takeaway Art’s role exceeds simple consolation. Themes art theory cinema purpose meaning Mood thoughtful reflective Type critical theoretical When to use this quote - watching experimental films - discussing controversial movies - film festivals Key Concepts aesthetic autonomy Practical Applications - support avant‑garde cinema - critically evaluate film’s intent Questions to Reflect On - When does art become too did? - How should viewers balance expectation and artistic intent? A Different Perspective Audiences often seek emotional catharsis, making pure aesthetic aims challenging to sustain. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Cinema](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cinema/) [Console](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/console/) [Handle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/handle/) [Purpose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/purpose/) [Purpose of art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/purpose-of-art/) [Shakespeare Think](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shakespeare-think-857107/) [Think Cinema](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/think-cinema/) [Think Zeffirelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/think-zeffirelli-1172621/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Treat Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/treat-shakespeare-1075530/) [Treats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/treats/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) [Zeffirelli Hamlet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/zeffirelli-hamlet-1172622/) ## Related quotes > [I've tried not to treat Shakespeare as a marble giant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-freeman/i-ve-tried-not-to-treat-shakespeare-as-a-marble-giant/) [Martin Freeman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-freeman/) > [I suppose I am gently cynical about notions of who we think we are, but I certainly don't hate my fellow man. I think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-greenaway/i-suppose-i-am-gently-cynical-about-notions-of-who-we-think-we-are/) [Peter Greenaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-greenaway/) > [If you think about it, most cinema is built along 19th-century models. You would hardly think that the cinema had discovered James Joyce sometimes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-greenaway/if-you-think-about-it-most-cinema-is-built-along-19th-century-models/) [Peter Greenaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-greenaway/) > [I always think that if you deal with extremely emotional, even melodramatic, subject matter, as I constantly do, the best way to handle those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-greenaway/i-always-think-that-if-you-deal-with-extremely-emotional-even/) [Peter Greenaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-greenaway/) > [I do indeed think that cinema is mortal. There is a lot of evidence already that it is dying on its feet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-greenaway/i-do-indeed-think-that-cinema-is-mortal-there-is-a-lot-of-evidence/) [Peter Greenaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-greenaway/) > [I hate Shakespeare. I think Shakespeare's rubbish.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-hate-shakespeare-i-think-shakespeare-s-rubbish/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [ Shakespeare, who never could think up a plot by himself, found this one \[Macbeth\] in Holinshed's Chronicles, changing it just enough so that no… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-armour/shakespeare-who-never-could-think-up-a-plot-by-himself-found-this-one/) [Richard Armour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-armour/) > [T. Ray said 'Who do you think you are? Julias Shakespeare?' The man sincerely thought that was Shakespeare's first name, and if you think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/t-ray-said-who-do-you-think-you-are-julias-shakespeare-the-man/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [“If you cannot understand my argument, and declare "It's Greek to me", you are quoting Shakespeare; if you claim to be more sinned against…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-levin/if-you-cannot-understand-my-argument-and-declare-it-s-greek-to-me-you/) [Bernard Levin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-levin/) > [Shakespeare's always been sitting on my back, since I began reading. And, certainly, as a writer, he's who I hear all the time. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-jacobson/shakespeare-s-always-been-sitting-on-my-back-since-i-began-reading/) [Howard Jacobson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-jacobson/) > [There have only been two authentic geniuses in the world, Willie Mays and Willie Shakespeare and I think you'd better put Shakespeare first, darling.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tallulah-bankhead/there-have-only-been-two-authentic-geniuses-in-the-world-willie-mays/) [Tallulah Bankhead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tallulah-bankhead/) > [I think cinema is needed throughout Africa, because we are lagging behind in the knowledge of our own history. I think we need to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ousmane-sembene/i-think-cinema-is-needed-throughout-africa-because-we-are-lagging/) [Ousmane Sembene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ousmane-sembene/) > [I think our cinema has stayed in its adolescent stage largely because of our obsession with and our dependence upon stars to make our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naseeruddin-shah/i-think-our-cinema-has-stayed-in-its-adolescent-stage-largely-because/) [Naseeruddin Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naseeruddin-shah/) > [I think cinema is closer to allegories than to reality. It's closer to our dreams.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manuel-puig/i-think-cinema-is-closer-to-allegories-than-to-reality-it-s-closer-to/) [Manuel Puig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/manuel-puig/) > [I think that cinema has always progressed through exchanges.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-audiard/i-think-that-cinema-has-always-progressed-through-exchanges/) [Jacques Audiard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-audiard/) ## 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/) > [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/) > [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](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/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. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-dragon/i-think-a-business-guy-is-different-from-an-artist-they-walk/) [G-Dragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-dragon/) > [“The only thing--I tell you this straight from the heart--that disgusts me in Salzburg is that one can't have any proper social intercourse with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/the-only-thing-i-tell-you-this-straight-from-the-heart-that-disgusts/) [Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/) > [The sublime in art is the attempt to express the infinite without finding in the realm of phenomena any object which proves itself fitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/the-sublime-in-art-is-the-attempt-to-express-the-infinite-without/) [Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/) > [Art isn't done to decorate apartments, but to wage war against the enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/art-isn-t-done-to-decorate-apartments-but-to-wage-war-against-the/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) [Browse all 48,643 Art quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There are those who think that Zeffirelli's Hamlet is the way to treat Shakespeare. 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