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Drowning by Numbers

(M)

“The best days for violent deaths are Tuesdays”

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Overview

The painterly, formalist auteur of eros and thanatos Peter Greenaway (The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover) draws from folklore and children's tales to create a wicked little game of a film. In picturesque Suffolk, three generations of women all called Cissie Colpitts (Joan Plowright, Juliet Stevenson and Joely Richardson) find they are tired of the men in their lives, and so conspire with sympathetic local coroner Madgett (Bernard Hill) to do away with them. Drowning by Numbers is a thoroughly British tale of eldritch schemes and small-town malice executed with Greenaway's signature perverse clothing-optional flair.

Why You Should See This Film

Greenaway is criticised for a perceived emphasis on style over substance, but his gorgeous tableaux films make a compelling case for style as substance. Drowning by Numbers takes the form of a kind of urban legend, taking cues from arbitrary fairtytale laws that reward or punish at whim and finding their mirror in the strict social mores of rural England. The circular structure that winds down through generations of a family allows Greenaway to explore a favourite theme of women's solidarity and survival in a stifling environment, and the result is bleakly funny and quietly devastating. The repetition, the rules, the strict categorisation of colours and numbers according to their secret meaning— this is OCD cinema at its finest and will scratch a deeply held itch for a certain type of viewer.

Year:
1988
Rating:
M
Director:
Peter Greenaway
Cast:
Joan Plowright, Juliet Stevenson, Joely Richardson, Bernard Hill
Duration:
119 minutes
Language:
English

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