Drowning by Numbers 1988 M
Drowning by Numbers 1988 M
35MM, COLOUR, DOLBY, 118 MINUTES, UK / THE NETHERLANDS, ENGLISH / DIRECTOR/SCRIPT: PETER GREENAWAY / CINEMATOGRAPHER: SACHA VIERNY / EDITOR: JOHN WILSON / PRODUCTION DESIGNERS: BEN VAN OS, JAN ROELFS / MUSIC: MICHAEL NYMAN / COSTUME DESIGN: DIEN VAN STRAALEN / PRODUCTION CO: FILM FOUR INTERNATIONAL, ELSEVIER-VENDEX FILM BEHEER, ALLARTS PRODUCTION, VPRO TELEVISION, STIMULERINGSFONDS NEDERLANDSE CULTURELE OMROEPPRODUCTIES / PRINT SOURCE/RIGHTS: PARK CIRCUS / SCREENING FORMAT: DIGITAL BETACAM
‘I admire those works of art which are somehow encyclopaedic in their intention, that try to sum up, if only mockingly, all the world’s knowledge in one place.’ Peter Greenaway, New York Times, April 1991
Drowning by Numbers is a film about sex and death in which physical games and psychological game-playing occur throughout. During an idyllic English summer, three generations of related women, all named Cissie Colpitts (Joan Plowright, Juliet Stevenson and Joely Richardson), drown their husbands and use offers of sexual favours with the eccentric coroner Madgett (Bernard Hill) to get away with it. Madgett and his son Smut (Jason Edwards) enjoy devising various sports and games and when locals sense a cover-up, Madgett organises a tug-of-war between the bereaving families and friends and the women. Throughout the film Peter Greenaway employs a symbolic system of numbers counting onscreen from 1 to 100, allowing the audience to also undertake their own game by counting their way through the film.
Contact: Fri 18 Sept 6.00pm / Cinema A
Phone:
