The Draughtsman's Contract
by Peter Greenaway
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Anne-Louise Lambert, Anthony Higgins, Janet SuzmanDirector: Peter Greenaway
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Subtitled); English (Original Language)
Format: Anamorphic, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.66:1
Running Time: 107 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-02-12
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Zeitgeist Films
Movie Reviews of The Draughtsman's Contract
Movie Review: Vermeer meets Barthes
Summary: 4 Stars
The Draughtsman's Contract was made near the very height of the post-structuralist semiotic orgy that infected France and Germany and, to a lesser extent, the intellectual circles (such as they are) of Britain. If the most famous novel resulting from that frenzied period was The Name Of The Rose and the most widely read piece of theory was S/Z, then The Draughtsman's Contract was the most elegant and popular film. But just as Rose and S/Z were ultimately less substantial than their progenitors tried to claim, so is this movie less than meets the eye. For all Greenaway's insistence on semiotic clues (the objects that appear in the twelve drawings the eponymous Mr Neville is contracted to produce), the fact is that this is a beautiful work that is essentially hollow at the core. But frankly it doesn't matter. No one composes shots like Greenaway. Each frame is constructed with the care of an Old Master. It doesn't matter that the plot is silly and the intellectual guessing-game actually rather thin. What carries the movie is its sense of itself. It is assured, witty, engaging, and wonderful to look at. Greenaway revels in the period costumes and the dialog is always brisk and amusing. This is a movie you would be happy to watch with the volume turned off, were it not for the score which is glorious in itself - a twentieth century interpretation of period composers like Purcell.
The plot of the movie has been recapitulated by other reviewers; suffice it to say that really the plot doesn't matter except that it acts as a scaffold for Greenaway's compositions. This is essentially a static movie, a movie in individual frames each of which is to be savoured. It doesn't matter "what Greenaway meant" because in the end the whole post-structuralist theory meant practically nothing. But whereas post-structuralist music is unlistenable and works like S/Z are now mere museum curiosities, The Draughtsman's Contract is still worth watching for the sheer visual delight it provides.
Summary of The Draughtsman's Contract
Set in a richly exaggerated 17th-century England, Peter Greenaway's sumptuous and sensuously charged brainteaser catapulted him to the forefront of international art cinema. Adorned with intricate wordplay, extravagant costumes and opulent photography, Greenaway's first narrative feature weaves a labyrinthine mystery around the maxim "draw what you see, not what you know." An aristocratic wife (Janet Suzman) commissions a young, cocksure draughtsman (Anthony Higgins) to sketch her husband's property while he is away--in exchange for a fee, room and board, and one sexual favor for each of the twelve drawings. As the draughtsman becomes more entrenched in the devious schemings in this seemingly idyllic country home, curious details emerge in his drawings that may implicate a murder.Bolstered by a majestic score by then-newcomer Michael Nyman and stunning cinematography by Curtis Clark that suggests Greenaway has the elements at his beck and call, The Draughtsman's Contract is a luscious cinematic banquet for eye, ear and mind.
SPECIAL FEATURES
- Restored anamorphic transfer, created from Hi-Def elements
- Peter Greenaway commentary and video introduction
- Four deleted scenes
- Behind-the-scenes footage and on-set interviews
- Interview with composer Michael Nyman
- Restoration demonstration
- Production photo and Draughtsman's sketch galleries
- English subtitles for the deaf and hearing impaired
- Original theatrical trailer
- Essays by Greenaway and cinematographer Curtis Clark
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