The Draughtsman's Contract

The Draughtsman's Contract (1982)

Timing: 1:48 (108 min)

7.122/10
221

0/10
19

6.5/10
23

All about film

Video 3

Photo 4

Actors and characters

Release date

1982-11-12

Country

United Kingdom

Production

Film4 Productions, BFI

Genre

Comedy, Mystery, History

Budget

$370 800

Revenue

$2 256 246

Website

Director

Peter Greenaway

Actors

Anthony Higgins, Janet Suzman, Dave Hill, Anne-Louise Lambert, Hugh Fraser, Neil Cunningham, David Meyer, Tony Meyer, Nicholas Amer, Suzan Crowley
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Producer

David Payne

Operator

Curtis Clark

Composer

Michael Nyman

Artist

Audition

Lucy Boulting

Editing

John Wilson
All team (40)

• The estate and gardens shown in the film were shot in Kent, England. According to the plot, the film's action takes place in Wiltshire.
• The film won the Grand Prix of the Belgian Association of Film Critics.
• Peter Greenaway was inspired to create the film by his own attempts to paint a house he had rented for a vacation, and discovered that the sunrise and sunset changed the position of shadows and the overall appearance of the house too quickly to be painted in one sitting. The vacationer ended up spending several days painting the house from a specific point (as does the film's protagonist). The drawings in the film were made by the director himself.
• Filming lasted approximately 8 weeks in the summer.
• The film is set in the 17th century, in 1694, at the end of the joint reign of Mary II (1662-1694) and William III. In 1694, Mary died childless.
• Initially, the film ran for 3 hours after editing, and the director's cut lasted over 4 hours.
• The film was originally shot on 16mm film, but it was transferred to 35mm film for theatrical release.