Drowning By Numbers

Peter Greenaway, UK/Netherlands 1988, 118 minutes

Three women, all with the unlikely moniker of Cissie Colpitts (Joan Plowright, Juliet Stevenson and Joely Richardson) plot to murder their menfolk with the help of the local coroner, Madgett and his son. Needless to say, the friends and family of the murdered gents are slightly suspicious of the terrible trio and all hell breaks loose when Madgett admits to his part in the killings.

Greenaway's film is another foray into the subject of metaphorical sex-and-death games in the best traditions of black humour. Set in an idyllic English summer, in a typically peaceful English village with typically disturbing English undercurrents of jealously, revenge and avarice, this film is awash with visual references very much setting the style of the film in the memorable opening scenes of Plowright drowning her husband in the bath. Like The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover, this film has some almost farcical moments but overall it is more reminiscent of, say, A Zed And Two Noughts in tone, if not in subject. Regular collaborator Michael Nyman comes up trumps again with his complimentary score and the acting by the three females leads is relatively inspired. The Numbers from the title refers to the strategic placing of the numbers 1 to 100 throughout the film, further emphasising the game-playing theme and inviting the audience to join in the fun. Altogether all these different parts create an audacious whole whose impact upon the senses confirm Greenaway as this country's leading `artistic' filmmaker.

"An amoral tale, told morally, with a strong feminist undertone... Greenaway himself has stated, that `the good do not get rewarded, the wicked are rarely punished, and the innocent are always abused'" - Virgin

Review by Neil Chue Hong
Taken from EUFS Programme 1996-97