The Draughtsman’s Contract

Set in a richly exaggerated 17th-century England, Peter Greenaway’s witty, stylized, erotic country house murder mystery 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 commissions a young, cocksure draughtsman 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 scheming’s in this seemingly idyllic country home, curious details emerge in his drawings that may reveal a murder.

R; 108 minutes

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