The Draughtsman's Contract DVD

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The Draughtsman's Contract

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"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, and that pleasure is Mrs. Herbert. While Mr. Neville aims for fidelity in his drawings, infidelity in private is quite another matter. Then 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, making each scene like a realistic, though sumptuous, painting, while having his actors spout witty and complicated sentences. While this is very entertaining, it has a dual purpose, which is to depict the falseness of surfaces. Mr. Neville's faith in the same 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

CATEGORY: DVD
DIRECTOR: Peter Greenaway
THEATRICAL RELEASE DATE: 1982
MANUFACTURER: Fox Lorber
MPAA RATING: R (Restricted)
FEATURES: Color, Letterboxed, Widescreen, NTSC
TYPE: Drama, Foreign, Movie, Mystery, Mystery / Suspense, Suspense
MEDIA: DVD
# OF MEDIA: 1
UPC: 720917519623

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Customer Reviews of The Draughtsman's Contract

Master's Smile
The first Peter Greenaway's feature "The Draughtsman's Contract" (1982) - is absolutely delightful, devilishly clever (just imagine the best Agatha Christy's mystery with all sorts of clues and suspects but without Poirot or Ms. Maple to explain in the end whodunit and why. You are on your own to try to figure out - everything you need to know is right there), and funny (Yes, Greenaway can be funny!) art film - the perfect example of an art film. It combines the elements of social satire with murder mystery, meditates on the power of art and role of an artist, studies family drama and mothers - daughters love and understanding, perfectly wraps it in sensual pleasure - and what the pleasure it is. I know I will watch it again because it is a feast for eyes (I've seen big budget movies that looked plain comparing to this one shot on the limited funds), ears (Michael Nyman wrote one of the best score ever for this film) and for brain - there are mysteries and puzzles in every frame and in every dialog. <
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>There is couple of Greenaway's thoughts on his first film and on the films that influenced him from the interview that was published in L'Avant-Scene Cinema", No 333, October 1984: <
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>"Majority of my films may be viewed on several levels. Thus, in "The Draughtsman's Contract" there was the desire to open the symbolism of plants and fruits, to study the connections between the aristocrats and the common people, the conflicts between the worlds of gentlemen and of servants. With my films, I hope to generate interest, to stimulate imagination, to wake feelings... <
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>I consider that 90% of my films one way or another refers to paintings. "Contract" quite openly refers to Caravaggio, Georges de la Tour and other French and Italian artists... <
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>Before the work on the film began, I did not explain to film crew what I wanted, but I showed them five European films: "Fellini's Casanova", "The Last Tango in Paris" by Bertolucci, "The Marquise of O" by Eric Rohmer, "Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach" by Jean-Marie Straub and, most importantly, "Last Year at Marienbad" by Alain Resnais which has been the most influential film for me." <
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>4.5/5 (9/10) <
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The Draughtsman's Contract
This is one of the greatest movies of all time. Filled with quick witty humor. Peter Greenaway is possibly one of the greatest writer/dirtectors of this time. His strange yet visually appealing way of precieving his entirely original stories is AMAZING. If you are a Peter Greenaway fan, then there should be no question about owning this movie. And if you don't really know who he is then, you should check this movie out. Believe it or not, this movie IS filled with comedy. Not Anchorman style, but a style that is all his own. OWN this movie if you are considering it. And if you aren't considering it... then CONSIDER IT! 5 stars.


The ultimate postmodernist film
There is a plot, sort of. A murder that is never solved with enigmatic clues, signifiers that never match a signified. The film is all subtext, no text, and all surface, no depth. But this is not a complaint. The surface has a sinister glitter and the film hints that there is indeed nothing behind it. What you see is what there is. This is not to say the film has no political meaning. It clearly enough shows the exemption of privilege from responsibility which should be no news to us in the Republican ascendency. But the real meaning of the film is not its content but its very taking style, a triumph of imagery over substance, thus ultimate postmodernism.

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