This film will be available in subscription on 14 November 2022
The Draughtsman's Contract
Peter Greenaway became a director of international status with this witty, stylised, erotic country house murder mystery.
Period drama 1982 107 mins
Director: Peter Greenaway
Overview
Peter Greenaway became a director of international status with this witty, stylised, erotic country house murder mystery. In an apparently idyllic 17th century Wiltshire, an ambitious draughtsman is commissioned by the wife of an aristocrat to produce twelve drawings of her husband's estate and negotiates terms to include sexual favours from his employer.
But when a corpse is dragged from the moat, the draughtsman's drawings may reveal more than he realised. Extravagant costumes, a twisting plot, elegantly barbed dialogue and a mesmerising score by Michael Nyman make the film a treat for ear, eye and mind.
Accessibility
Related
Period drama
Frantz Frantz
Period drama 2016 114 mins Director: François Ozon
The ever-prolific François Ozon directs this richly-evocative period piece, set in the aftermath of World War I.
The Seventh Seal The Seventh Seal
Fantasy 1957 96 mins Director: Ingmar Bergman
Ingmar Bergman’s best-known film is a brilliant allegorical drama starring Max von Sydow as a knight trying to elude his own death.
The Handmaiden The Handmaiden
Period drama 2016 146 mins Director: Park Chan-wook
Park Chan-wook (Old Boy, Stoker) channels Sarah Waters’ novel Fingersmith, to create a sumptuous twisty psychological thriller full of erotic intrigue.
Smiles of a Summer Night Smiles of a Summer Night
Comedy 1955 109 mins Director: Ingmar Bergman
Ingmar Bergman’s Cannes prize-winning comedy assembles various couples in a country house in 1900.
Rashomon Rashomon
Crime 1950 88 mins Director: Akira Kurosawa
Credited with bringing Japanese cinema to worldwide audiences, Akira Kurosawa’s breakthrough tells the story of a murder in the woods from four differing perspectives.
An Actor's Revenge An Actor's Revenge
Period drama 1963 114 mins Director: Kon Ichikawa
Kon Ichikawa's wildly melodramatic tale of a kabuki female impersonator who exacts a long-delayed revenge.
BFI London Film Festival
The Handmaiden The Handmaiden
Period drama 2016 146 mins Director: Park Chan-wook
Park Chan-wook (Old Boy, Stoker) channels Sarah Waters’ novel Fingersmith, to create a sumptuous twisty psychological thriller full of erotic intrigue.
Ladyworld Ladyworld
Thriller 2018 94 mins Director: Amanda Kramer
Welcome to Ladyworld, a shadowy dwelling where tensions run high and nothing is ever quite what it seems.
The Painted Bird The Painted Bird
Drama 2019 169 mins Director: Vaclav Marhoul
Based on Jerzy Kosiński’s 1965 novel and a long time in the making, Václav Marhoul’s extraordinary The Painted Bird finds a lone Jewish boy on a dark odyssey towards home during wartime.
After Love After Love
Drama 2020 90 mins Director: Aleem Khan
In this knockout feature debut from Aleem Khan, Bafta-winner Joanna Scanlan is the woman who discovers her late husband’s secrets.
The Prey The Prey
Action and Adventure 2018 93 mins Director: Jimmy Henderson
An innocent man sentenced to rot in a Cambodian jail is released for the sadistic pleasure of twisted trophy hunters and forced to fight – or die.
Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn
Comedy 2021 106 mins Director: Radu Jude
Berlin Golden Bear winner, Radu Jude’s scathing satire finds schoolteacher Emi threatened with dismissal when a private sex tape goes viral.
Directed by Peter Greenaway
Eisenstein in Guanajuato Eisenstein in Guanajuato
Biopic 2015 106 mins Director: Peter Greenaway
One of Britain’s most inventive filmmakers, Peter Greenaway, tackles the story of arguably the most influential filmmaker in cinema history, Sergei Eisenstein.
A Zed and Two Noughts A Zed and Two Noughts
Animation & Artists Moving Image 1985 117 mins Director: Peter Greenaway
Following a fatal car crash involving a swan outside a zoo, twin-brother zoologists Oliver and Oswald become fascinated by the processes of decay.
Nightwatching Nightwatching
Biopic 2007 136 mins Director: Peter Greenaway
Martin Freeman’s hearty turn as Rembrandt anchors one of Peter Greenaway’s most accessible films, charting the creation of the Dutch master’s key work, ‘The Night Watch’.
Goltzius and the Pelican Company Goltzius and the Pelican Company
Biopic 2012 117 mins Director: Peter Greenaway
An artist stages a series of erotic dramatisations illustrating sexual taboos from the Old Testament, in this startling and shocking return from director Peter Greenaway.
The Falls The Falls
Animation & Artists Moving Image 1980 195 mins Director: Peter Greenaway
Peter Greenaway's epic first feature, constructed as an excerpt from an imagined, filmic directory listing everyone affected by VUE – the Violent Unknown Event
New
Les Dames du Bois de Boulogne Les Dames du Bois de Boulogne
Drama 1945 87 mins Director: Robert Bresson
Robert Bresson’s tale of sexual intrigue, rivalry and revenge among Parisian socialites, with glittering dialogue by Cocteau.
Dogman Dogman
Drama 2018 103 mins Director: Matteo Garrone
Gomorrah director Matteo Garrone presents a masterful tale of twisted friendship, not-so-petty crime and revenge.
The Trial of Joan of Arc The Trial of Joan of Arc
Historical drama 1962 64 mins Director: Robert Bresson
The legendary story of Joan of Arc is powerfully retold in Robert Bresson’s minimalist masterpiece.
Bull Bull
Crime 2021 88 mins Director: Paul Andrew Williams
After ten years’ absence, a vicious gangster (Neil Maskell) returns to his old stomping ground to find his son and take revenge on the gang that double-crossed him.
Pusher Pusher
Crime 1996 105 mins Director: Nicolas Winding Refn
The debut film of both Nicolas Winding Refn (Drive) and Mads Mikkelsen (Casino Royale) is a ferociously gritty crime thriller about a drug dealer's dizzying descent into self-destruction.
Pusher II Pusher II
Crime 2004 96 mins Director: Nicolas Winding Refn
Nicolas Winding Refn's sequel follows Tonny (Mads Mikkelsen) on the path to redemption, as he balances a life of crime with the demands of a new family.