Tags
1980's, Bernard Hill, Dark Comedy, Drama, Drowning by Numbers, Jason Edwards, Joan Plowright, Joely Richardson, Juliet Stevenson, Peter Greenaway
Film Title
Drowning by Numbers
Director
Peter Greenaway
Starring
- Bernard Hill as Madgett
- Joan Plowright as Cissie Colpitts I
- Juliet Stevenson as Cissie Colpitts II
- Joely Richardson as Cissie Colpitts III
- Jason Edwards as Smut
Written and directed by Peter Greenaway, Drowning by Numbers is a baroque examination of sorority, murder and all things numerical laced with dark humour and morbid events. It won’t be for everyone’s taste, but as a black comedy drama with strange imagery and surreal repeating games, it is a sardonic and at times disturbing watch.
In a quiet and seemingly quaint Suffolk town by the seaside, strange events are occurring beneath the supposedly docile appearance. The film focuses on three generations of women who all share the name Cissie Colpitts. As the film progresses, each of the women successfully drown their philandering and useless spouses; the eldest Cissie drowns her husband in the bath, the second Cissie disposes of her spouse in the sea and the seductive youngest drowns her husband in the swimming pool. Their murderous tasks are covered up by the local coroner Madgett, who loves to play morbid games. Although he is promised a reward for his rulings on the suspicious deaths, the three women hold back and lead him on. Madgett’s teenage son Smut, is also obsessed with death and numerical games and his imagination is heightened after the sudden increase in drownings. Yet, soon the townsfolk grow suspicious of the supposed accidental deaths and believe that Madgett knows more than he is letting on. Strange, unsettling and embedded with a knife-edge humour, Drowning by Numbers emerges as an artistic rumination on morbidity, womanhood and sexuality.
As I mentioned earlier, Drowning by Numbers will not be for everyone but there are certain things that can’t help but be praised. The strikingly saturated hues of blue and red that cover Suffolk are exemplary and capture the various themes of aquatic death and underlying passion. A lot of the imagery is really hard to get out of your head. Greenaway clearly has fun placing numbers in the scenes in various ways, such as written, on clothing or sometimes something subliminal and repeating numerous phrases relating to them. References to historical figure’s last words, morbid games played like ancient rites and a young girl reciting the names of stars in the night sky while skipping all add to the dark tone of the film and the skittish other side that often intertwine with one another to unnerving effect.
As the film continues, the audience is sucked into the twisted game and believe me it’s a strange but interesting experience that makes you sit up and take note. Greenaway depicts an iconoclastic England rarely depicted on cinema screens, cutting through the alleged respectability and manners with a mendacious glee to show a dark undercurrent akin to a really dark fairy tale at various points. Lurid images and the importance of sisterhood play a large part of the story, embodied excellently by the murdering trio at the heart of it. Michael Nyman’s unusual score perfectly compliments the dark humour that pervades Drowning by Numbers.
The cast inhabit their strange roles with charm and wit. Bernard Hill is suitably strange and slightly lecherous as the coroner cajoled into covering up the aquatic deaths but never getting his reward with any of the women. Joan Plowright, Juliet Stevenson and Joely Richardson make for a delightfully scheming and lethal sisterhood, filling the three Cissie’s with vivacity but also showing the hidden secrecy, unspoken camaraderie and manipulation that lies beneath their pretty exterior. Jason Edwards makes quite an impression as the unusual Smut, who collects bugs and is obsessed with anything related to death. Through his narration, we see the escalating morbid quality that his games begin to take on.
It may not be for everyone, but if you want an intelligent, strangely and darkly comic look at murder boasting unusual imagery, Drowning by Numbers may be what you are looking for.
dirkmalcolm said:
Its one of my favourite films. I love the depiction of the countryside red in tooth and claw. The game playing is brilliant. I have to keep watching it, trying to find the numbers hidden in the scenes, counting from 1 to 100!
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vinnieh said:
Thanks, looking for the numbers really adds to the darkly playful undercurrent of the story.
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Cavershamragu said:
I think you more than give this films its due – i haven’t really wanted to watch it since it came out (yeah, I’m THAT old) but it is undeniably beautifully shot, acted by some of the best actors in the business and is certainly ‘challenging’ …
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vinnieh said:
Thanks for the comment, it’s a film I believe is really hard to get on DVD. So I was glad when it was screened on TV.
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sedge808 said:
I have this film and many other Greenway films. They are excellent.
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vinnieh said:
Thanks for the comment, I really need to see more of his movies.
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Mark Walker said:
Solid review Vinnie. It’s been years since I seen this but I remember really liking it.
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vinnieh said:
Thanks Mark, always appreciate your opinion.
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Laura O said:
I haven’t heard of this one before, but will be sure to watch it now. Thanks for the tip.
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vinnieh said:
Thanks for the comment, it’s certainly an interesting watch.
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cindybruchman said:
I love intelligent, strangely dark films, Vinnieh. 🙂
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vinnieh said:
Thanks Cindy, I’m sure you’ll enjoy this one.
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cindybruchman said:
When you have a second, I’d love it if you visited my blog and read my recent post…..
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Paul S said:
I’ve never seen this one but it must be worth watching for that trio of fantastic actresses and Bernard Hill.
Good review Vinnie.
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vinnieh said:
Thanks, yeah that is one talented trio of actresses, isn’t it?
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Laura O said:
Just spotted this on the listings for Film4 late tonight. I’ve set it to record, so may finally get round to watching it!
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vinnieh said:
Thanks for the comment, hope you get round to seeing it. I look forward to hearing what you thought of it.
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beetleypete said:
Greenaway is something of an occasionally flawed genius.
I liked this film a lot though, and he did make one of my all-time favourite ever films too.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083851/
And not forgetting ‘Caravaggio’.
Best wishes, Pete.
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beetleypete said:
Sorry, I cut that comment off by mistake. It should read ‘And not forgetting ‘Caravaggio’, by Derek Jarman, which feels as if Greenaway made it instead.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090798/?ref_=nv_sr_1
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vinnieh said:
Thanks for the link Pete. Can always rely on you for that.
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vinnieh said:
He definitely has his own style that while not to everyone’s tastes, is undeniably his own vision.
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