The Draughtsman's Contract (1982)

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General		Extras
Category	Comedy	Audio Commentary-Director Peter Greenaway Introduction-by Peter Greenaway (9.56) Featurette-Restoration (2.39) Featurette-Behind The Scenes-Two Scenes (5.30), (4.55) Deleted Scenes-Four Scenes Interviews-Crew-Guardian Interview : Michael Nyman (6.39) Gallery-Photo Web Links Easter Egg-Press Book
Rating
Year Of Production	1982
Running Time	103:00
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Peter Greenaway
Studio Distributor	Umbrella Entertainment	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
Case	Amaray-Transparent
RPI	?	Music	Michael Nyman

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s) English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.66:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.66:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	None	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    There's never been another filmmaker like Peter Greenaway. Bursting onto the art-house scene in 1982 with The Draughtsman's Contract he directed a string of astonishing, funny, infuriating films through the 80's, with each displaying a different level of audacity. In the 90's his films, like The Baby of Macon, became so wilfully obscure and distancing that they bordered on unwatchable (Nathan Lee of The New Yorker once joked that Greenaway's film 8 1/2 Women was seen by that many people!). Now he still makes the odd film but each is more in the nature of an art project than a work of cinema.

If there was a point of reference for Greenaway it could be found in American director David Lynch who saw a similar, although more commercial, rise to prominence in the 1980's. But where Lynch blends the mundane and the menacing to create a weird suburbia Greenaway is a cinematic prankster whose films, though sharing Lynch's penchant for abrupt shocking violence, are games and intellectual pursuits for the audience.

Greenaway had been making short films since the 1960's. He was a fine art student in England and the short films can be seen as an extension of his pure art ideals. The early 80's were a tough time for the British film industry despite the Oscar success of Chariots of Fire and Ghandi. Despite limited funding Greenaway made his first full length film, The Falls, in 1980 - a catalogue of 92 individuals all with "falls" in their name who suffered from Violent Unexplained Events. Quirky, droll and entirely different it marked Greenaway as a filmmaker to watch.

In 1982 The Draughtsman's Contract coalesced Greenaway's ideas and obsessions into a digestible work. Though he describes it in the commentary track as simply a "historical Agatha Christie", the film is much more and stands as one of the creative high points of the decade.

The plot, such as it is, is quite simple. Assured and arrogant Mr Neville (Anthony Higgins) is a successful draughtsman who is valued across the land as a sketch artist to the aristocracy, rendering their houses and estates on paper for perpetuity. Mrs Herbert (Janet Suzman) approaches him with a proposition - to draw her husbands estate for considerable reward. It seems that Mr and Mrs Herbert have become estranged and Mrs Herbert believes that the drawings will bring her husband back to the fold. Initially, unattracted to the proposition Neville accepts the offer only after Mrs Herbert agrees to his terms - that he will do 12 drawings of the buildings and grounds and Mrs Herbert will make herself available for his pleasure! The contract is duly written up by the scheming Mr Noyes (Neil Cunningham) who has had his own designs on Mrs Herbert for some time. Fortunately for the participants the cold and distant Mr Herbert is philandering in the south whilst the goings-on are going on.

Mr Neville is a stickler for detail and issues a series of commands that the areas he is to draw must be abandoned of servants and left in an unvaried condition from day to day. Small changes do appear, however. A coat here, an open window, a ladder. Initially displeased Neville begins to incorporate these elements into his drawings. When Mrs Herbert's daughter (Picnic at Hanging Rock's Miranda Anne-Marie Lambert) suggests to Neville that the objects could be interpreted as clues in a possible murder. The daughter is married to an equally haughty man, the German Mr Talmann. He, quite rightly, suspects that something is going on between the randy Neville and his wife.

Intrigue piles on intrigue but the arrogant Neville is too proud or naive to stop the course of events. When Mr Herbert is dragged from the pond all are suspect. Unlike the usual Christie, events are resolved on a dark night with maximum brutality.

The Draughtsman's Contract is a film built on artifice. The characters are drawn in broad strokes and the costumes are laced and the hairstyles bouffanted to ridiculous extremes. The effect is to create a strange world, alien yet recognizable, in which the characters are likes exotic chess pieces. The film may be too strange for some. The presence of a naked man painted as a statue is just one of the oddities on offer. But for sheer audacity and élan the film is hard to ignore and even harder to dislike. The actors romp through their parts and the script fairly crackles with rich and witty dialogue. No examination of the film could ignore the enormous contribution made by the music of Michael Nyman. The British minimalist not only scored Greenaway's early films to perfection but also created one of the most enduring scores in The Piano. Here Nyman works from grounds by Purcell to create a score of weirdness and familiarity that utterly suits the film.

This DVD is available as part of the Umbrella Entertainment Peter Greenaway Collection along with A Zed & Two Noughts and Peter Greeenaway: A Documentary. Those fans of Greenaway who don't own the films already should consider this an essential purchase.

Video

   The Draughtsman's Contract was shot on 16mm film blown up to 35mm for cinematic release. It was projected at a 1.66:1 European Widescreen ratio. This DVD preserves that aspect ratio. It is 16x9 enhanced.

The transfer for this DVD was freshly minted from a restoration project in 2003. The DVD contains an extra which compares an original extant copy of the film to the restored product.

Before anyone starts getting too excited about a demonstration quality DVD I should point out that the process of restoration has turned an unwatchable film into a watchable film. The original print was washed out , bedevilled by artefacts and generally about to fall apart. The new restored edition is still of only average quality and features a number of defects. There are still artefacts to be seen and a wobbly telecine in the opening credits. The blacks are really only shades of dark and detail is a little thin. Grain is not surprisingly present to some extent throughout.

I doubt that there is enough money around to deliver a 1080P restoration of the film. In the meantime we must be content that this DVD represents the best possible image quality for this somewhat obscure film.

The subtitles are in French but no English subtitles. There is one scene with a Dutch landscaper which is intentionally not subtitled.

Video Ratings Summary

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Audio

    The Draughtsman's Contract arrives on DVD with a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack running at 224Kb/s.

This is consistent with the age and history of the film. It would have been nice to get a 5.1 remaster but beggars can't be choosers. The quality of the track is a little muddy and sometimes it is necessary to strain a bit to hear the dialogue. The fact that there are no English subtitles can make this a bit of a problem at times as the dialogue is rapid-fire.

The music of Michael Nyman is , of course, a key attraction here. Working from grounds by Henry Purcell Nyman twists these baroque delights into minimalist delights that convey the past and the future.

Audio Ratings Summary

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Audio Commentary

Peter Greenaway is a man of commanding intellect. His commentary tracks are more like university lectures than Making of guides. After all, when was the last time you heard a director talking about the "Hugenot North-French lace-making tradition"? Despite this fierce intelligence Greenaway is anything but superior - he explains his films in a way that seems simple and obvious. This film, he says, is about land, money, hereditary rights and continuity. Although sometimes scene specific the commentary is pretty wide ranging and deals with all aspects of the production. Greenaway insists that it is possible to ignore all the artistic and literary references and just enjoy the film as a simple murder mystery. Maybe.

Introduction to the Film by Peter Greenaway

Greenaway explains how the Government funding for his film came about. Essentially he was devoted to the documentary style (if not content) of film. He was challenged to come up with a film where "the characters talked to each other". He describes how he formulated the ideas, found the house and chose the year 1694.

Featurette -Restoration

This short featurette shows how the past video masters of the film differ from the Restored "Hi Def" version produced in 2003 which forms the basis of this transfer. The difference is remarkable. The original video master looks like Mr Blobby's fighting in a snow storm. The final version is no masterpiece but it is a sizeable improvement.

Featurette-Behind The Scenes

This consists of two parts. The first is an on-set examination of the pomegranate scene with Greenaway working with the actors. It also shows the crew at work including make up and the continuity lady. Short but intriguing.

In the second of these extras Greenaway and actors Janet Suzman and Anthony Higgins talk about their characters and their motivations in becoming involved in the project. Suzman praises Greenaway though says that he is very cerebral and different from other directors she has worked with!

Deleted Scenes

There are four deleted scenes on offer. They are of not inconsiderable length. The first (Chairs) shows an obsessive Neville having all the spare chairs in the household brought out onto the grounds so that he can test each one to see which will suit his posterior best as a drawing chair. The second (Rain) shows a bored Neville waiting for the rain to stop so he can continue his drawing. The third (Misadventure) is a bedroom scene where Neville discusses with Mrs Herbert the eventual fate of his drawings if Mr Herbert doesn't return. The fourth (Watercress) is a short scene featuring another of Mr Noyce's stories.

All are in "original quality".

Interviews Michael Nyman Guardian Interview

Whichever way you cut it Michael Nyman has been integral to the films of Peter Greenaway. Here he is interviewed by a chap from The Guardian about his movement into film and the origin of his distinctive re-interpretation of classical pieces.

Gallery-Photo

A series of stills from the movie.

Web Links

This provides the link to the British Film Institute.

Easter Egg

The second Easter Egg is a little more difficult to access. Once the Pomegranate Scene from the Behind the Scenes extras has been viewed a link appears to the right of it leading to a series of photos, articles and oddities. I am reliably informed that there are 95 pages of this material.

    This DVD has been released in PAL Regions with the same content. The Region 1 version, however, is short of the extras.

   The Draughtsman's Contract is an enjoyable romp with a high degree of British quirkiness. Commentators suggest that it represents the supreme example of a avant-garde filmmaker producing something which is commercial and palatable without losing his central ideals of art.

The DVD is not great to look at but does look and sound good enough for most fans.

The extras are exemplary.

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