Drowning by numbers

15 yrs 118 minutes • 1988 • 7.1

The willful director and artist Peter Greenaway, who made The Draughtsman’s Contract and The Belly of an Architect, through his film art, opens the door to a new ambiguous reality in its both beautiful and grotesque, but always elegant, style. In the Palm d’Or nominee Drowning By Numbers from 1988, he offers a puzzle that is hard to solve, a playful drama comedy orchestrated in his own unique way. A mother, her daughter and her niece – all named Cissie Colpitts – are dissatisfied with their men and drown them to death. Protected by the forensic pathologist, the three women conduct a daring murder investigation in a fun and disturbing story where the numbers 1 through 100 appear through the scenes.