The Draughtsman’s Contract
1982 • 1h 48m • English With Subtitles • 15
England 1694: a draughtsman is contracted to create drawings of a stately home, and, through his sketches, uncovers clues to the murder of its owner. The Draughtsman’s Contract was the first narrative feature film by British director Peter Greenaway, one of the country’s foremost auteurs.
His unique creative vision appears here fully developed in this enigmatic, witty and innovative debut, which was followed by other equally imaginative works, such as A Zed & Two Noughts (1985), Drowning By Numbers (1988), The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover (1989) and Prospero’s Books (1991). Film critic Alexander Walker wrote that ‘visually, the film is one of the most elegant that’s ever been made in Britain’. Greenaway, aided by cinematographer Curtis Clarke, plays with framing, using the draughtsman’s frame and easel to focus the eye on details within the cinematic frame.
Greenaway’s artistic training comes through in visual references to works by Caravaggio and Gainsborough, with scenes alternating between dimly candlelit interiors and sunlit exterior views of the beautiful house and grounds. The flamboyant Restoration costumes, designed by Sue Blane, are complemented by the florid dialogue which barely conceals the scandalous behaviour and scheming of the characters.
Michael Nyman’s skilful pastiches of the musical works of contemporary British composer Henry Purcell also contribute immensely to the film’s period evocation, which is tinged with a modern twist.
Screened in a double bill with The Golden Squacco Heron
19:30, Friday 20 March 2026
Screen 4, The Ashford Cinema
Screened in a double bill with The Golden Squacco Heron
Credits
Director(s)
Peter Greenaway
Writer(s)
Peter Greenaway
Producer(s)
David Payne
Director of Photography
Curtis Clark
Composer
Michael Nyman
Editor
NA
Production Designer
Bob Ringwood
Costume Designer
Sue Blane
Casting
Lucy Boulting
Principle Cast
Anthony Higgins
Janet Suzman
Anne-Louise Lambert
Hugh Fraser
Contact
N/A
Meet The Artist
Peter Greenaway, CBE (born 5 April 1942) is a British filmmaker and visual artist.
Greenaway’s notable feature films include The Draughtsman’s Contract (1982), The Belly of an Architect (1987), The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989), Prospero’s Books (1991), and Nightwatching (2007). He has also created works in other mediums, notably the multimedia Tulse Luper Suitcases, documentaries, and several video installations. In 2014, he received the BAFTA Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema Award.
Greenaway’s films are noted for the distinct influence of Renaissance and Baroque painting, and Mannerist painting in particular. Common traits in his films are the scenic composition and illumination and the contrasts of costume and nudity, nature and architecture, furniture and people, sexual pleasure and painful death. The BFI’s Screenonline describes him as “a philosopher of cinema,” and “an artist who is a believer in the subversive power of the image.”
