Drowning by Numbers 412314 224789558 2008-07-10T12:39:57Z Brian1979 437708 dab {{Infobox Film | name = Drowning by Numbers | image = | caption = Drowning by Numbers film poster | director = [[Peter Greenaway]] | producer = [[Kees Kasander]]<br />[[Denis Wigman]] | writer = Peter Greenaway | starring = [[Joan Plowright]]<br />[[Juliet Stevenson]]<br />[[Joely Richardson]] | music = [[Michael Nyman]] | cinematography = [[Sacha Vierny]] | editing = [[John Wilson]] | distributor = [[Prestige]] | released = 10 September 1988 | runtime = 118 min. | language = [[English language|English]] | budget = | imdb_id = 0092929 }} '''''Drowning by Numbers''''' is a [[1988 in film|1988]] [[motion picture]] directed by [[Peter Greenaway]]. The film's plot centers on three women — a [[grandmother]], [[mother]] and [[daughter]] — each named [[Cissie]] [[Colpitts]]. As the story progresses each women successively [[drown]]s her [[husband]]. Through the course of the film the numbers [[1 (number)|one]] to [[100 (number)|one hundred]] appear in order, sometimes seen in the background, sometimes spoken by the characters. The three Cissie Colpittses are played by [[Joan Plowright]], [[Juliet Stevenson]], and [[Joely Richardson]]. [[Bernard Hill]] plays the [[coroner]] [[Madgett]], who is cajoled into covering up the three crimes. The structure, with similar stories repeated three times, is reminiscent of a [[fairy tale]]. The link to [[folklore]] is further established by Madgett's [[son]] [[Smut]], who recites the rules of various unusual [[game]]s played by the characters as if they were ancient traditions. Many of these games are invented for the film, including: *[[Bee]]s in the [[Tree]]s *[[Dawn]] [[Card]] [[Castle]]s *Deadman's Catch *Flights of Fancy (or Reverse Strip Jump) *The Great [[Death]] Game *[[Hangman]]'s [[Cricket]] *The [[Hare and Hound]]s *[[Sheep]] and [[Tide]]s The musical score is by [[Michael Nyman]], and is entirely based on themes taken from the slow movement of [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]]'s [[Sinfonia Concertante for Violin, Viola and Orchestra|''Sinfonia Concertante'' in E flat, K364]]. Nyman had previously used this piece as the basis for part of the score for Greenaway's ''[[The Falls]]''. It is heard in its original form immediately after each drowning. Number-counting, game rules and the plot's repetitions are devices that emphasize structure and symmetry in ''Drowning by Numbers''. The film is set in and around [[Southwold]], [[Suffolk]], [[England]], with key landmarks such as the [[Victorian architecture|Victorian]] [[water tower]], [[Southwold Lighthouse]] and the [[River Blyth, Suffolk|River Blyth]] [[estuary]] clearly identifiable. ==External links== *[http://petergreenaway.org.uk/drowning.htm ''Drowning by Numbers'' at petergreenaway.org.uk] *{{imdb title | id=0092929 | title=Drowning by Numbers}} [[Category:1988 films]] [[Category:British films]] [[Category:English-language films]] [[Category:Films directed by Peter Greenaway]] {{crime-film-stub}} [[de:Verschwörung der Frauen]] [[it:Giochi nell'acqua]] [[ru:Отсчет утопленников (фильм)]]