The Draughtsman's Contract [1982]

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Our Price: ££34.95
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Manufacturer: Artificial Eye
Starring: Anthony Higgins, Janet Suzman, Anne-Louise Lambert, Hugh Fraser, Neil Cunningham
Directed By: Peter Greenaway

Average Customer Rating: Average rating of 4.0/5

Audience Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 5014138032678
Format: HiFi Sound
Label: Artificial Eye
Number Of Discs: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Artificial Eye
Release Date: 1994-09-05
Running Time: 103
Studio: Artificial Eye
Theatrical Release Date: 1984-03-30

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Spotlight customer reviews:

Customer Rating: Average rating of 5/5

Summary: "Your significance, Mr. Neville, is attributable to both innocence and arrogance in equal parts." He understands this too late

Comment: We're in post Restoration England in 1694, and at a country estate filled with condescending, witty, superficial creatures dressed in heavy satins and lace, with chalk dusted cheeks, painted cupid lips and beauty spots, and wearing magnificent high wigs with cascading curls down to the waist...and that's just the men.

In their midst is Mr. Neville (Anthony Higgins), a talented, successful and arrogant artist whose father, we learn later, was a tenant farmer. He is engaged by the lady of the estate, Mrs. Herbert (Janet Suzman) to draw 12 views of the estate as a present for her clod of a husband, who will be away on business for the next 15 days. Mr. Neville declines. The unhappily married Mrs. Herbert increases his fee. Mr. Neville again declines. Mrs. Herbert offers him her intimate pleasure along with the fee. At that, Mr. Neville agrees. A contract is prepared which spells out Mr. Neville's exact requirements for the 12 views and Mrs. Herbert's contractual obligation for his pleasure. In the course of these two weeks the detailed views will be drawn, pleasure will be taken, Mrs. Herbert's daughter, Mrs. Tallman, will offer a contract of her own and we will learn a bit about heirs and impotency. The absent Mr. Herbert will return, but as a corpse discovered in the estate's moat.

I have no doubt that Peter Greenaway knew exactly what he was doing with The Draughtsman's Contract. Me? I know what I think happened...probably. I like this movie immensely. Discussing the meaning behind Greenaway's films like The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover, or Prospero's Books or The Draughtsman's Contract, is almost a small industry among film students and certain cineastes. A good place to start this sort of discussion, however, is not with "Greenaway was aiming at this..." but with "I think Greenaway was aiming at this..." That "I" language makes the speaker own his or her opinions, and almost invariably decreases the "Izzat so?" quotient. That's a positive. What I know is that I think The Draughtsman's Contract is a mannered, magnificent puzzle of a film, where everyone speaks in complete sentences. It's stuffed full of elegance, precision, disconcerting oddness, uncomfortable relationships, hidden motives, ego, style, art, sex, eye burning, murder and ambiguity. When this is all stirred together with Greenaway's imagination and ability to create disconcerting and beautiful visions, what more could a person want? Well, perhaps a story that moves from plot point to plot point, all clear and tidy, and with an ending that leaves us satisfied and happy. If that's so, then Greenaway is not for you. Better stick with Michael Shayne, Private Detective (another movie I like a lot).

"Your significance, Mr. Neville," says one important character, "is attributable to both innocence and arrogance in equal parts." His arrogance doesn't allow more than contempt for those privileged, condescending, shallow people he now is surrounded by during these two weeks. His innocence keeps him from considering the possibilities of what he sees but doesn't see. He is a man whose lovemaking is brutally self-centered and as mannered as his conversation, with his conversation continuing during his lovemaking, "You must forgive my curiosity, madam, and open your knees." Even so, we begin to feel a little uncomfortable for him. Almost as important to the plot is that Mr. Neville draws exactly what he sees. But what does he see? A window that is open when it should be closed? A ladder against a wall? A jacket on a bush when there had been a sheet? A pair of riding boots? It all has a point, but some of it is pure Greenaway. What is, after all, the point of the countertenor...or of the naked statue who is not a statue...or, for that matter, of the 13th drawing? How sure are we of the significance of the three pomegranates...or the last scene where we witness a slobbering bite of pineapple? I don't know, but I enjoyed every minute of it.

Janet Suzman and Anthony Higgins carry us along in great style. Almost as important are Anne-Louise Lambert as Mrs. Tallman, Mrs. Herbert's daughter, and Hugh Fraser as Mr. Tallman. The movie is gorgeous to look at, painterly in its compositions and without, in my opinion, a dull moment. All that clever, mannered dialogue sounds straight from a Restoration melodrama. The Draughtsman's Contract is a wonderful movie.

Customer Rating: Average rating of 1/5

Summary: rental review

Comment: disjointed film on rental copy I received frrom you. Scenes jumped and film seemed badly cut for no rymn or reason

Customer Rating: Average rating of 5/5

Summary: Baroque 'n' Roll

Comment: Here we have 7 highly infectious pieces of baroque flavoured music from the Michael Nyman Band. I can confidently say that there is not a single duff moment amongst these frankly joyous pieces! Every note is vibrant and full of colour. Melodies unfurl, building and building until the listener is entranced by the deceptively simple chord sequences. Clarinets snake around saxophones and trumpets while repetetive string riffs chug along in the background. This is almost like rock music played by people nurtured on Bach and Purcell. An absolutely fantastic collection of music. I would recommend this to fans of Morricone, Tiersen's music for AMELIE or The Penguin Cafe Orchestra.

If you are curious enough to be reading this then I implore you to purchase this CD. I promise it will enhance your music collection and you will want to spread the word as to the beauty of these pieces.

Thank God for Michael Nyman. This album reminds me of why I fell in love with music in the first place!

Customer Rating: Average rating of 2/5

Summary: not good

Comment: It has been suggested by other reviewers that this film 'requires work'. That it does, but not an enjoyable sort of work. To work at this film, the viewer must become complicit in the smug kind of self-referential encoding which Greenaway (presumably) delights in. The problem is that the ponderous gathering-up of Greenaway's wink-wink hints and half allusions is presumed to be a sufficient end in itself - the best a viewer can hope for is to enjoy the act of unravelling itself, for the unravelled message is banal in the extreme. Greenaway's observations about pictorial representation, perspectival space, and the baroque fondness for elaboration are not interesting. Worst of all, the tedious and naive (Greenaway claims to be a painter, for goodness sake!) banging on about what he calls in an interview the maxim of 'draw what you see, not what you know' is frustrating in its complete unwillingness to develop even the beginnings of a coherent thesis. In fact, boring-on at great length about this refrain is the very reason for Greenaway's having made this film (as he admits in the same interview). That he has absolutely nothing whatsoever to say that is either new or interesting about the dilemma of representation doesn't seem to have stopped him concocting a smarmy visual code so that we can all sit around and pat ourselves on the back for uncoding his purposeless little film.

Customer Rating: Average rating of 5/5

Summary: Greenaway -Theatre and Music

Comment: This is a wonderful film, which thankfully does not pander to the modern audiences' need for action and sectionalised films that don't tax the attention span. Indeed you have to work very hard to glean information from the highly stylised language and mysterious, subtle happenings.

The stylisation of the language, costume, set, and the formal representation of the plot, which is ultimately more important that the characters, has links with Aristotle, Brecht, and Cage.

The concept of plot over character is one of the main aspects of Attic tragedy and also the opposition of the individual against the collective or as Nietzche has said the Apolline in congruence but also in opposition to the Dionysiac. Indeed could the statue be an image of Apollo?

The stylisation and the use of the Draughtman's frame serves as a device to objectify the film and alienate the audience. These are ideas pioneered in theatre by Brecht. This purposely makes the audience aware that they are watching a film rather than attempting to seduce them into loosing themselves. This heightens the experience and also universalises it, which allows us to relate it to other situations rather than creating an illusion and submerging ourselves in it and therefore taking away the reality of it.

The use of numbers can be linked to John Cage and are more prevalent to some of Greenaway's other films. This work its ideas and techniques can be closely paralleled with the music theatre work of Harrison Birtwislte specifically Punch and Judy and The Mask of Orpheus. Who also amalgamates many sources to create complex and profound works.

This film is a master piece which will remain of interest to the viewer and will grow in depth the more it is watched.

Editorial Reviews:
Customer Rating: Summary: "Your significance, Mr. Neville, is attributable to both innocence and arrogance in equal parts." He understands this too late Comment: We're in post Restoration England in 1694, and at a country estate filled with condescending, witty, superficial creatures dressed in heavy satins and lace, with chalk dusted cheeks, painted cupid lips and beauty spots, and wearing magnificent high wigs with cascading curls down to the waist...and that's just the men. In their midst is Mr. Neville (Anthony Higgins), a talented, successful and arrogant artist whose father, we learn later, was a tenant farmer. He is engaged by the lady of the estate, Mrs. Herbert (Janet Suzman) to draw 12 views of the estate as a present for her clod of a husband, who will be away on business for the next 15 days. Mr. Neville declines. The unhappily married Mrs. Herbert increases his fee. Mr. Neville again declines. Mrs. Herbert offers him her intimate pleasure along with the fee. At that, Mr. Neville agrees. A contract is prepared which spells out Mr. Neville's exact requirements for the 12 views and Mrs. Herbert's contractual obligation for his pleasure. In the course of these two weeks the detailed views will be drawn, pleasure will be taken, Mrs. Herbert's daughter, Mrs. Tallman, will offer a contract of her own and we will learn a bit about heirs and impotency. The absent Mr. Herbert will return, but as a corpse discovered in the estate's moat. I have no doubt that Peter Greenaway knew exactly what he was doing with The Draughtsman's Contract. Me? I know what I think happened...probably. I like this movie immensely. Discussing the meaning behind Greenaway's films like The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover, or Prospero's Books or The Draughtsman's Contract, is almost a small industry among film students and certain cineastes. A good place to start this sort of discussion, however, is not with "Greenaway was aiming at this..." but with "I think Greenaway was aiming at this..." That "I" language makes the speaker own his or her opinions, and almost invariably decreases the "Izzat so?" quotient. That's a positive. What I know is that I think The Draughtsman's Contract is a mannered, magnificent puzzle of a film, where everyone speaks in complete sentences. It's stuffed full of elegance, precision, disconcerting oddness, uncomfortable relationships, hidden motives, ego, style, art, sex, eye burning, murder and ambiguity. When this is all stirred together with Greenaway's imagination and ability to create disconcerting and beautiful visions, what more could a person want? Well, perhaps a story that moves from plot point to plot point, all clear and tidy, and with an ending that leaves us satisfied and happy. If that's so, then Greenaway is not for you. Better stick with Michael Shayne, Private Detective (another movie I like a lot). "Your significance, Mr. Neville," says one important character, "is attributable to both innocence and arrogance in equal parts." His arrogance doesn't allow more than contempt for those privileged, condescending, shallow people he now is surrounded by during these two weeks. His innocence keeps him from considering the possibilities of what he sees but doesn't see. He is a man whose lovemaking is brutally self-centered and as mannered as his conversation, with his conversation continuing during his lovemaking, "You must forgive my curiosity, madam, and open your knees." Even so, we begin to feel a little uncomfortable for him. Almost as important to the plot is that Mr. Neville draws exactly what he sees. But what does he see? A window that is open when it should be closed? A ladder against a wall? A jacket on a bush when there had been a sheet? A pair of riding boots? It all has a point, but some of it is pure Greenaway. What is, after all, the point of the countertenor...or of the naked statue who is not a statue...or, for that matter, of the 13th drawing? How sure are we of the significance of the three pomegranates...or the last scene where we witness a slobbering bite of pineapple? I don't know, but I enjoyed every minute of it. Janet Suzman and Anthony Higgins carry us along in great style. Almost as important are Anne-Louise Lambert as Mrs. Tallman, Mrs. Herbert's daughter, and Hugh Fraser as Mr. Tallman. The movie is gorgeous to look at, painterly in its compositions and without, in my opinion, a dull moment. All that clever, mannered dialogue sounds straight from a Restoration melodrama. The Draughtsman's Contract is a wonderful movie. Customer Rating: Summary: rental review Comment: disjointed film on rental copy I received frrom you. Scenes jumped and film seemed badly cut for no rymn or reason Customer Rating: Summary: Baroque 'n' Roll Comment: Here we have 7 highly infectious pieces of baroque flavoured music from the Michael Nyman Band. I can confidently say that there is not a single duff moment amongst these frankly joyous pieces! Every note is vibrant and full of colour. Melodies unfurl, building and building until the listener is entranced by the deceptively simple chord sequences. Clarinets snake around saxophones and trumpets while repetetive string riffs chug along in the background. This is almost like rock music played by people nurtured on Bach and Purcell. An absolutely fantastic collection of music. I would recommend this to fans of Morricone, Tiersen's music for AMELIE or The Penguin Cafe Orchestra. If you are curious enough to be reading this then I implore you to purchase this CD. I promise it will enhance your music collection and you will want to spread the word as to the beauty of these pieces. Thank God for Michael Nyman. This album reminds me of why I fell in love with music in the first place! Customer Rating: Summary: not good Comment: It has been suggested by other reviewers that this film 'requires work'. That it does, but not an enjoyable sort of work. To work at this film, the viewer must become complicit in the smug kind of self-referential encoding which Greenaway (presumably) delights in. The problem is that the ponderous gathering-up of Greenaway's wink-wink hints and half allusions is presumed to be a sufficient end in itself - the best a viewer can hope for is to enjoy the act of unravelling itself, for the unravelled message is banal in the extreme. Greenaway's observations about pictorial representation, perspectival space, and the baroque fondness for elaboration are not interesting. Worst of all, the tedious and naive (Greenaway claims to be a painter, for goodness sake!) banging on about what he calls in an interview the maxim of 'draw what you see, not what you know' is frustrating in its complete unwillingness to develop even the beginnings of a coherent thesis. In fact, boring-on at great length about this refrain is the very reason for Greenaway's having made this film (as he admits in the same interview). That he has absolutely nothing whatsoever to say that is either new or interesting about the dilemma of representation doesn't seem to have stopped him concocting a smarmy visual code so that we can all sit around and pat ourselves on the back for uncoding his purposeless little film. Customer Rating: Summary: Greenaway -Theatre and Music Comment: This is a wonderful film, which thankfully does not pander to the modern audiences' need for action and sectionalised films that don't tax the attention span. Indeed you have to work very hard to glean information from the highly stylised language and mysterious, subtle happenings. The stylisation of the language, costume, set, and the formal representation of the plot, which is ultimately more important that the characters, has links with Aristotle, Brecht, and Cage. The concept of plot over character is one of the main aspects of Attic tragedy and also the opposition of the individual against the collective or as Nietzche has said the Apolline in congruence but also in opposition to the Dionysiac. Indeed could the statue be an image of Apollo? The stylisation and the use of the Draughtman's frame serves as a device to objectify the film and alienate the audience. These are ideas pioneered in theatre by Brecht. This purposely makes the audience aware that they are watching a film rather than attempting to seduce them into loosing themselves. This heightens the experience and also universalises it, which allows us to relate it to other situations rather than creating an illusion and submerging ourselves in it and therefore taking away the reality of it. The use of numbers can be linked to John Cage and are more prevalent to some of Greenaway's other films. This work its ideas and techniques can be closely paralleled with the music theatre work of Harrison Birtwislte specifically Punch and Judy and The Mask of Orpheus. Who also amalgamates many sources to create complex and profound works. This film is a master piece which will remain of interest to the viewer and will grow in depth the more it is watched. "I try very hard never to distort or dissemble," says Mr. Neville (Anthony Higgins), a draughtsman of considerable talent contracted by a certain Mrs Herbert (Janet Suzman) to make 12 drawings for her absent husband of their English estate. Part of that contract involves Mr Neville taking his pleasure with Mrs Herbert. While Mr Neville aims for fidelity in his drawings, infidelity in private is quite another matter. The film becomes a cerebral puzzle when objects start appearing mysteriously in the subjects of Mr Neville's various drawings: a ladder that wasn't there before, a pair of boots standing in a field. Mr Neville's penchant for realism is stymied by these clues, which may or may not suggest the murder of Mr Herbert. Peter Greenaway seems to have directed this, his first art-house success, with the aim of exploring the failings of perspective in art and casting his doubtful eye on the possibility of "faithful" drawings such as those by which Mr. Neville makes his living. Greenaway was, after all, an art student, and must have known that drawing machines like the one Mr Neville uses in the film (which is set in 1694) led not only to the invention of photography, and therefore of film itself, but also to the renouncing of perspective that informs so much of 20th-century painting. In the film, Greenaway overlays the story's mysterious elements with highly mannered tableaux, shooting each scene like a realistic, though sumptuous, painting, while his actors spout witty and complicated sentences, suggesting the falseness of surfaces. Mr Neville's faith in surface is his downfall, and Greenaway's triumph is in his distortions and dissemblings, the narrative lie that gets closer to the truth than any architectural drawing could. --Jim Gay, Amazon.com

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