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Drowning By Numbers [VHS] [1988]

VHS ~ Joan Plowright

4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)

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10 used from �5.98 2 collectible from �9.65

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Product details

Actors: Joan Plowright, Juliet Stevenson, Joely Richardson, Bernard Hill, Jason Edwards (IV)
Directors: Peter Greenaway
Format: Dolby, PAL, Surround Sound
Classification: 18
Studio: 4 Front Video
VHS Release Date: 12 April 1999
Run Time: 113 minutes

Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)

ASIN: B00004R67P
Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 1,011 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)
Popular in these categories:
#2 in Video > World Cinema > Directors > Greenaway, Peter
#8 in Video > World Cinema > British

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Product Description

Synopsis
When you don't like your husband anymore, murder may seem a drastic solution. Unless, that is, you decide to drown him and you are a personal friend of a compliant coroner...

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	15% buy Drowning By Numbers
	15% buy A Zed And Two Noughts [1985] [DVD] 3.6 out of 5 stars (5) �12.98

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Customer Reviews

7 Reviews

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

Average Customer Review

4.4 out of 5 stars (7 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Masterpiece or mess?, 6 Oct 2000

By A Customer

You either love Peter Greenaway's films or hate them. They take much more effort than the usual Hollywood fare, and many folk can't stand films they can't grasp instantly.

Drowning by Numbers is a mixture of metaphor, allegory and narrative shot with immense style in elaborately constructed and richly-coloured sets. The biggest plot thread is the murder of their partners by three generations of women. This isn't crass US TV real-life drama. This is funny, startling and utterly absorbing cinema.

Woven into this is an array of cryptic sub-plots with some unsettling themes and a couple of horrifying denouments.

If you like your plots on a plate, you won't like this film. But if you like to sit back, absorb, and wait for the realisations to come to you slowly (maybe weeks later), this is a very satisfying and absorbing film indeed.

The cinematography, the ambience, the careful pace and direction - not to mention the soundtrack - are really rather extraordinary.

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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Shocking Reproduction Quality, 15 Mar 2004

By	Ghill Donald - See all my reviews

I would urge you to save your money until they re master this film and put it out on DVD. The quality of this VHS reproduction is appalling. It looks like a 5th, 6th generation copy. It doesn't simply negate the rich cinematography that is so common to Greenaway's work, it spoils viewing completely. Bide your time with the excellent DVD copy of Cook Thief or Draughtsman's Contract

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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pleasingly weird, 27 Jun 2004

By A Customer

Greenaway's films are always watchable for the cinematography, but in this one you can actually follow the story too. The plot is fairly simple but is padded out with descriptions of peculiar games that Madgett, the Suffolk coroner, and his strange son Smut invent to pass the time. Smut also celebrates any violent death (whether roadkill or drowned husbands) by painting a number at the scene and letting off fireworks. Yellow paint for Tuesdays, red paint for Saturdays (Tuesday is winning, being the best day for violent deaths). You can also try to count the ascending numbers from 1-100 that are placed in each scene. I only saw about half of them - some are well hidden.

There isn't a DVD version of the film available in the UK at the moment, but the Australian DVD (with UK FilmFour logo!) is region 0, so will play on any DVD player, and is probably the best bet for picture quality.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Unforgettable
Very few films have the vision and originality of Drowning by Numbers. Apart from being beautifully filmed and containing a fantastic collection of old English childrens' games,... Read more

Published on 27 Jan 2004 by Mr. A. E. Castellari

5.0 out of 5 stars I just wish it would come out on DVD!
Now, this is really worth a proper DVD release - if only they would do it. It is the best film of my life (not over yet, but it would be hard to beat it). Read more

Published on 6 Sep 2003 by Michael Channon

5.0 out of 5 stars Never mind the film, listen to the music!
Michael Nyman's reworking of Mozart's Symphonie Concertante is simply brilliant. Forget the video, by the CD of the music instead!

Published on 13 Sep 2000

5.0 out of 5 stars Greenaway at his best ...
Peter Greenaway's art cinema is often criticised - the undergraduate's favourite he is seen as pretentious and faux-sophisticated. Read more

Published on 3 Mar 2000

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