The Draughtsman’s Contract, Peter Greenaway, A-

Now here’s a funny thing. I watch this movie and I really, really dig it. Sure, the ending kinda doesn’t make sense, but by Peter Greenaway’s standards this, his first feature, is very linear. Then I go online and some putz is like, “If you don’t have a sturdy understanding of Jacobian English history, there’s no way this movie will make any sense to you!” Oh, shit. Really? ‘Cause I thought I liked it. Well, even if I didn’t get it from an insider’s historical perspective, this movie kinda rocks in its own weird way. I would pitch it as Last Year At Marienbad meets Gosford Park in a time machine back a few hundred years. Unlike Greenaway’s miraculous and infuriating A Zed and Two Noughts this film doesn’t quite seem like it is being beamed down from super-intelligent alien beings. The plethora of bon mots and snarky music by Michael Nyman (who later created one of the greatest film scores ever for Gattaca) definitely keep this rooted in the world of entertainment. Which is probably a good thing.

3 Comments

Julie on March 11, 2005 at 4:47 pm

I and some of my friends were obsessed with The Cook (et al) when it first came out. It was so incredibly different than any of us 15 year olds had ever seen. And it was rated X! Before the NC-17 rating took effect. It was also the first film I ever watched at Angelika. And what an experience! It was so sophisticated from the crappy little theatres I knew in Queens. And so different from the traditional theatres in midtown.

I wrote 2 different papers on The Cook in film school. To this day the Nyman soundtrack to this film is my favorite. OK, I know this wasn’t about the Draghtsman’s Contract, but that’s my little comment on Peter Greenaway.

Jordan on March 11, 2005 at 9:23 pm

I haven’t seen The Cook in a long while. . .have you seen Greenaway’s other films?

Julie on March 13, 2005 at 6:44 pm

Murder by Numbers (not the Sandra Bullock film), Prospero’s Books, The Belly of an Architect, and… I could have sworn I’d seen something else but don’t remember. I have the 2 films you mentioned in my netflix q. I bought The Cook when it came out on video.

I’ve heard that Greenaway is a cantankerous asshole. But then aren’t the all.

Julie on March 11, 2005 at 4:47 pm

I and some of my friends were obsessed with The Cook (et al) when it first came out. It was so incredibly different than any of us 15 year olds had ever seen. And it was rated X! Before the NC-17 rating took effect. It was also the first film I ever watched at Angelika. And what an experience! It was so sophisticated from the crappy little theatres I knew in Queens. And so different from the traditional theatres in midtown.

I wrote 2 different papers on The Cook in film school. To this day the Nyman soundtrack to this film is my favorite. OK, I know this wasn’t about the Draghtsman’s Contract, but that’s my little comment on Peter Greenaway.
Jordan on March 11, 2005 at 9:23 pm

I haven’t seen The Cook in a long while. . .have you seen Greenaway’s other films?
Julie on March 13, 2005 at 6:44 pm

Murder by Numbers (not the Sandra Bullock film), Prospero’s Books, The Belly of an Architect, and… I could have sworn I’d seen something else but don’t remember. I have the 2 films you mentioned in my netflix q. I bought The Cook when it came out on video.

I’ve heard that Greenaway is a cantankerous asshole. But then aren’t the all.