Top 150 Most Anticipated Foreign Films of 2019: #135. Walking to Paris – Peter Greenaway

Walking to Paris

It’s been four years and counting as we await the next feature from Peter Greenaway, Walking to Paris, which the director was discussing prior to the premiere of his last film, 2015’s Eisenstein in Guanajuato. It looks like 2019 may finally be the year we may set eyes upon his take on sculptor Constantin Brancusi, which features a cast comprised of Emun Elliott, Carla Juri, Andrea Scarduzio, Paolo Bernardini, Marcella Mazzarella and Remo Girone. The film will feature the work of both Italian DP Paolo Carnera (Suburra, 2015) and his usual collaborator, Dutch cinematographer Reinier van Brummelen. Greenaway’s latest is an Italian-Dutch co-production financed by Andrea De Liberato, Kees Kasander, Emanuele Moretti and co-producer Julia Ton.

The highly decorated Greenaway competed four times for the Palme d’Or in Cannes (The Belly of an Architect, 1987; Drowning By Numbers, 1988; 8 ½ Women, 1999; The Tulse Luper Suitcases Part 1: The Moab Story, 2003). With the 2013 omnibus 3x3D, Greenaway (alongside Edgar Pera and Jean-Luc Godard) was on hand at Critics’ Week. He’s competed three times in Venice (The Draughtsman’s Contract, 1982; Prospero’s Books, 1991; Nightwatching, 2007) and once in Berlin (Eisenstein in Guanajuato – read review) .

Gist: Greenaway’s script details 27-year-old sculptor Constantin Brancusi, who walked from Bucharest to Paris in 1903 and 1904 as a preparation and prelude to becoming the most important sculptor of the twentieth century.

Release Date/Prediction: Initial production began in fall of 2015, and Greenaway halted production to catch different seasons. Production was also delayed due to the Umbrian earthquakes. In a recent interview in Romania, Greenaway confirmed the film would be ready by spring 2019. If the film is not ready in time for Berlin, expect a premiere at anywhere from Karlovy Vary to Locarno. Cannes could be a potential possibility, as Greenaway was last there with the omnibus 3×3 in 2013.