In Restoration-era England, a wealthy gentlewoman and a skilled draughtsman strike a deal — he shall sketch her estate, in return for various sexual favors. This dry comedy of manners takes a turn towards enigmatic mystery when the woman’s husband is found dead, with the draughtsman naturally becoming the main suspect.

Set in a richly exaggerated 17th-century England, Peter Greenaway’s sumptuous and sensuously charged brainteaser catapulted him to the forefront of international art cinema. Adorned with intricate wordplay, extravagant costumes and opulent photography, Greenaway’s first narrative feature weaves a labyrinthine mystery around the maxim “draw what you see, not what you know.” An aristocratic wife (Janet Suzman) commissions a young, cocksure draughtsman (Anthony Higgins) to sketch her husband’s property while he is away–in exchange for a fee, room and board, and one sexual favor for each of the twelve drawings. As the draughtsman becomes more entrenched in the devious schemings in this seemingly idyllic country home, curious details emerge in his drawings that may implicate a murder. Bolstered by a majestic score by then-newcomer Michael Nyman and stunning cinematography by Curtis Clark that suggests Greenaway has the elements at his beck and call, The Draughtsman’s Contract is a luscious cinematic banquet for eye, ear and mind.

Four Stars. What we have here is a tantalizing puzzle, wrapped in eroticism and presented with the utmost elegance. I have never seen a film quite like it…. His movie is like a crossword puzzle for the senses.–Roger Ebert, The Chicago Sun-Times

The film is mannered and idiosyncratic; the speeches are so arch and twitty they seem to be pitched higher than a dog whistle, and the people talking are popinjays in perukes shaped as geometrically as the shrubs at Marienbad. –Pauline Kael

Astonishingly elegant… extraordinarily detailed… mind-bendingly rich. The Draughtsman’s Contract is fun. –Vincent Canby, The New York Times

Starring Anthony Higgins, Anne-Louise Lambert, Janet Suzman.

Note: Not suitable for children.