The Draughtsman's Contract

Peter Greenaway, UK 1983, 108 minutes

Herbert (Dave Hill) finds his relationship with his wife (Janet Suzman) strained, strained to the point where he decides to take two weeks holiday, two weeks alone. His wife in an effort to salvage their relationship, a relationship becoming ever more strained, asks an accomplished draughtsman (Anthony Higgins) to paint twelve pictures of the estate as a surprise gift. He agrees, but only on the condition that Herbert's wife gives him daily sexual favours. The (married) daughter (Louise Lambert) of the family also starts getting intimate with Neville (the draughtsman) but one day Herbert is tragically found dead in the moat. All suspicion falls on Neville and the family suspects the clues to the murder may lie in the portraits.

From a vicious observation of the landed classes, this swiftly moves on to a foreboding tale of murder. In typical Greenaway style this film takes the offbeat view of life. In beautiful countryside we find one of the more bizarre tales of murder and debauchery.

Anthony Higgins and Janet Suzman put in fine performances as two of the debauched but the real stars here are the screenplay and the setting. The gorgeous country estate offsets the beautiful costumes perfectly and the plot throws up more than a few off-key moments that will have you raising eyebrows involuntarily. All said a film worth watching purely because it provides a damn good evening's entertainment.

"Although set in an English country house in 1694, this is essentially science-fiction of the most dazzling kind, being a far more vivid exploration of an alien world than 99% of big-budget Hollywood films." - Time Out

Review by Andrew Hesketh
Taken from EUFS Programme 1996-97