The Draughtsman's Contract

Starring:Anthony Higgins, Janet Suzman, Anne-Louise Lambert, Hugh Fraser, Neil Cunningham, Dave Hill, David Gant, David Meyer, Tony Meyer, Nicolas Amer, Suzan Crowley, Lynda La Plante, Michael Feast, Alastair Cummings, Steve Ubels, Ben Kirby, Sylvia Rotter, Kate Doherty, Joss Buckley, Michael Carter
Director: Peter Greenaway
Studio: Fox Lorber
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Amazon.com
"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
Description
Peter Greenaway's (The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover) breakthrough feature film is a stylistic tour-de-force about murder, adultery and blackmail.

Peter Greenaway's The Draughtsman's Contract (aka: Draftman's Contract) ~ Classic Edition [Import, All-regions] (1982)
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Peter Greenaway's The Draughtsman's Contract (aka: Draftman's Contract) ~ Classic Edition [Import, All-regions] (1982)
Director: Peter Greenaway
Manufacturer: Premier Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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A landscape of lust and cunning.

"[Four Stars] What we have here is a tantalizing puzzle, wrapped in eroticism and presented with the utmost elegance. I have never seen a film quite like it. The raw materials of this story could have been fashioned into a bawdy romp like TOM JONES. But the director has made a canny choice. Instead of showing us everything, and explaining everything, he gives us the clues and allows us to draw our own conclusions. His movie is like a crossword puzzle for the senses." - Roger Ebert

Beautifully remastered import from Korea made for dvd players in the USA/Canada/Korea (NTSC, All-Region).

This is the ORIGINAL theatrical version envisioned by the director with the original, enhanced, English soundtrack.

ASIN: B000P1BFO4

Product Description

Set in the English countryside in the late 17th century, Mr. Neville, a young draughtsman (Anthony Higgins), is hired by Mrs. Herbert (Janet Suzman) to create 12 elaborate sketches of her estate as a gift to her husband, in return for money and sexual favors. This simple arrangement soon spirals out of control and Mr. Neville finds himself as the prime suspect in a bizarre murder mystery.

Customer Reviews:

Censored.......2007-07-03

After a long wait I finally received this "Beautifully remastered import from Korea" only to discover that it has been censored! I know that this is not the fault of the seller, but it should be known by anyone who might purchase it. Certain scenes go black with only the soundtrack and Korean subtitles (presumably explaining what "naughty bits" have been barred from view). An exasperating disappointment. This is one of my favorite films and it has been impossible for me to find a decent copy.

Average customer rating:

under rewarded film noir
A brief comment
Not worth the effort...
"The space between knowing and seeing."
Master's Smile

The Draughtsman's Contract
Starring: Anthony Higgins , Janet Suzman , Anne-Louise Lambert , Hugh Fraser , and Neil Cunningham
Director: Peter Greenaway
Manufacturer: Fox Lorber
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00002RATF
Release Date: 1999-12-14

Amazon.com

"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.

Description

Peter Greenaway's (The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover) breakthrough feature film is a stylistic tour-de-force about murder, adultery and blackmail.

Customer Reviews:

under rewarded film noir.......2007-06-12

The plot of The Draughtsnmman's contract has been summarized so often, that I can concentrate on the impact of this astonishing film. In the first 15 minutes we see the set up of another costume drama. But listen to the dialogue. It seems arch, even phony, but we are learning that there is something hidden in all the desperate sexual inuendo. The husband is too conveniently absent. The daughter's husband too clearly disinterested in making an heir for his father-in-law's estate. Watch the mistress turn the idea of paying the painter with favors turn into a plot to provide an heir for the state. The instigating incedent is slow and deliberate, but it predicts what is to come.
The mid-part of the story has two twenty minute sections, six drawings to a section, six couplings with a few clues that something weird is going on. Statues move, the master's clothing is left about, and the artist takes a holiday. Then he returns for the final drawings, and the daughter claims her rights. Maybe she can become pregnant, and if not, maybe the artist can be framed for the disappearance of the master. But, no, the master's body is found, murdered. I look for confirmation in the film that the daughter is pregnant and the artist has served his purpose, but do not see it. Even so, the artist is executed by private revenge.
Good guy gets the shaft?
No, the artist is an opportunist, the women are also, and the murderers of the artist are too. But who did in the master? The wife and daughter, who get away with it?
Viewers should not be put off by the appearance of a custume drama. Th Draughtsman's Contract is the most interesting movie of the last twenty-five years. It should be among the cult movies. It is also, on its own term, a witty look at the world of Restoration Drama when England was just strutting on to the world's stage. She was about to humble France, to rule the oceans, to dominate world trade and banking and to establish representative government. Viewers who want to belittle the prestensions of the English would do well to rest their impatience and see what the English were like as the world turned its face towards them in 1694.

A brief comment.......2007-05-05

This movie is a study in the dangers that lurk beneath what seem like otherwise polite, ordinary human discourse and relations. As the legendary Paul Muni said in the movie, "A Song to Remember," (about the life of composer Fredrick Chopin), "I don't know what's underneath, but the surface is very highly polished." :-)

The main character, a Mr. Neville, is an intelligent, talented, but in many ways extremely flawed individual. He is intelligent but does not reflect on his actions; as an artist, he is perceptive but doesn't truly see what is going on around him; and his politics are at odds with his wealthier, more powerful hosts. These conflicts set the stage for the final climax of the film, which I won't spoil for you here, but the movie should be of special interest to those who appreciate a very well executed period piece (complete with a musical score that has been said to sound like a "horny Handel"), as well as Greenaway fans.

Not worth the effort..........2007-04-27

Whatever Greenaway is trying to achieve here--historical allegory, 17th-century sex romp, comedy of manners, etc.--is beyond most of us, I'm afraid.

It begs the question: who's he making the movie for? Is this pandering to some tiny group of intelligentsia who'll watch it and then proudly declare that they--and yes, they alone--'get it'? Which of course leaves the rest of us--the great unwashed and uneducated masses--scratching our heads and asking for our money back.

Frankly, this is the kind of rot that affects much of modern art (and Greenaway, don't forget, started out life as a graphic artist). All these coy, internal references which are nothing more than the director thumbing his nose at the general public and quietly declaring, "If you don't understand my movie...then to h*ll with you. See if I care."

If you need further evidence of this, just look at the extra features on the DVD. There are none. No director's-commentary soundtrack, no critic's commentary, no supplemental or historical-background material...any of which *might* have made it a more enjoyable, approachable or understandable film. God forbid, that.

If there's any allegory here, it's the dead, bloated and tortured body floating in the water at the end. Maybe it's Greenaway's subconscious way of admitting that he's made an equally dead and tortured film.

If you want witty repartee and smart dialogue wrapped in historical sets and drama, save your time and buy Patrice Leconte's Ridicule (1996) instead.

"The space between knowing and seeing.".......2007-04-24

Set at the end of the 17th century, "The Draughtsman's Contract" is a tale of lust, adultery and murder staged in the fantastic country estate of Compton-Anstey. Mrs. Herbert (Janet Suzman) commissions an arrogant draughtsman, Mr. Neville (Anthony Higgins) to draw 12 views of her home over the period of 14 days. Mr. Herbert (Dave Hill), the owner of the house and Mrs. Herbert's bored husband will be in Southampton for this period, and the drawings are to be a surprise and will, or so Mrs. Herbert argues, initiate a reconciliation between husband and wife. Mr. Neville at first declines the commission and then agrees, setting a contract of 8 pounds per drawing and insisting that Mrs. Herbert grant a certain period of time each day for his "pleasure."

Mr. Neville has an obsession with order--particularly order in nature. He demands that the area he draws is perfectly prepared for his art. And while some of this can be achieved fairly easily, he also expects to harness the weather. But there is mischief afoot, and it is as if some imp is deliberately interjecting random chaos into each of his ordered landscape drawings. A stray item of clothing, a misplaced ladder--something seems to find its way into the landscape and thereby disrupts Neville's desire for perfect order.

Mr. Neville, a guest in the house, and a man of lower social standing than his hosts, is a disruptive element. With his arrival, he demands order to conduct his art, but his presence in the house threatens chaos--husbands are cuckolded, an old lover usurped, and even the line of succession is questioned. In addition, Mr. Neville's politics challenge prevailing opinion in the household. Mr. Neville's sympathies are for the Scots, the Irish, the Catholics, and he despises Germans. With the protestant William of Orange on the throne, and the deposed Catholic King James II living in exile, these opinions are dangerous. Yet Mr. Neville is so arrogant, he fails to recognize reality.

While the social discourse between the characters remains at all times polite and delivered without a tempest of emotions, under the surface ugly emotions simmer. Reality vs. illusion is the film's main theme, and unfortunately, when it comes to human conduct, Mr. Neville seems unable to distinguish between the two. On one hand, we have polite social discourse, but this frequently labyrinthine discourse--laden with double entendre--is a method of concealing real intentions. While the ambitious Mr. Neville prides himself on his intelligence, there is much he simply does not see. Just as Mr. Neville's drawings are one dimensional representations of Compton-Anstey, the words exchanged by the polite company in Mrs. Herbert's house are a mere illusion--representations of the truth. As always with Greenaway films, the resilient, deadly female of the species hold a great deal of the power, and just who is really in control here is deliciously revealed over the course of the film.

Writer and director Peter Greenaway creates notoriously difficult and illusive films--layered with meaning. In "The Draughtsman's Contract" Greenaway, once again manages to perfectly recreate an age--replete with the period's obsession with geometric design and perfect order. "The Draughtsman's Contract"--like many of director Peter Greenaway's films--is highly-stylized, and is essentially a series of elegant tableaux which so easily could be beautiful paintings that simply come to life when the camera rolls. Michael Nyman--Greenaway's composer of choice creates a baroque score that perfectly matches the gorgeous scenery. My old VHS tape of "The Draughtsman's Contract" was frustratingly dark in some scenes, but this issue was addressed in the DVD, and certainly made the purchase worthwhile--displacedhuman

Master's Smile.......2006-08-12

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.

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:

"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...

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...

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."

4.5/5 (9/10)

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The Draughtsman's Contract [Region 2]
Starring: Anthony Higgins , Janet Suzman , Anne-Louise Lambert , Hugh Fraser , and Neil Cunningham
Director: Peter Greenaway
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0001ACJQW

The Draughtsman's Contract / Kontrakt risovalshika by Peter Greenaway

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The Draughtsman's Contract / Kontrakt risovalshika by Peter Greenaway
Director: Peter Greenaway
Manufacturer: Karmen Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD
ASIN: B000QV1L7Y

Product Description

Djevid Higgins ("Glaza zmei"), H'ju Frjejzer ("Igry patriotov"), Dzhanet S'juzmjen ("CHernaja mel'nica"), JEnn-Luiz Lambert ("Napoleon") v fil'me "Kontrakt risoval'wika". 1694 god. Misteru Njevillu predlozheno sdelat' risunki imenija Gerbertov. Neverojatno vygodnyj kontrakt ne vyzval podozrenij Njevilla. Na dele nikto ne sobiralsja l'stit' ego talantu, Njevill vtjanut v set' opasnyh intrig. Ego detal'nye do melochej risunki prevrawajutsja v uliki gotovjawihsja ili uzhe sovershennyh prestuplenij. Njevill naprasno schitaet sebja pronicatel'nym nabljudatelem. V jetoj igre emu otvedena sovsem drugaja rol'. On ne svidetel', ne sledovatel', ne soobwnik i dazhe ne zhertva...

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