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poster of Drowning by Numbers
Rating: 7.1/10 by 160 users

Drowning by Numbers (1988)

Three generations of women who seek to murder their husbands share a solidarity for one another which brings about three copy-cat drownings.

Directing:
  • Peter Greenaway
Writing:
  • Peter Greenaway
Stars:
Release Date: Sat, Sep 10, 1988

Rating: 7.1/10 by 160 users

Alternative Title:
Maridos à Água - PT
Afogando em Números - BR
Отсчет утопленников - RU
Dränkta i nummerordning - SE
차례로 익사시키기 - KR
かずにおぼれて - JP
淹溺三六九 - HK
挨个儿淹死 - CN

Country:
Netherlands
United Kingdom
Language:
English
Runtime: 01 hour 59 minutes
Budget: $0
Revenue: $0

Plot Keyword: drowning, dark comedy, coroner, suffolk, england
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Joan Plowright
Cissie Colpitts 1
Juliet Stevenson
Cissie Colpitts 2
Joely Richardson
Cissie Colpitts 3
Kenny Ireland
Jonah Bognor
Janine Duvitski
Marina Bellamy
Michael Fitzgerald
Mr. 70 Van Dyke
Edward Tudor-Pole
Mr. 71 Van Dyke
Natalie Morse
The Skipping Girl
Arthur Spreckley
Sid the Gravedigger
Ian Talbot
The Police Detective
Roderic Leigh
The Policeman
Jose Berg
Skipping Girl's Mother
Peter Jaques
Priest (uncredited)

CinemaSerf

I actually found this to be one of Peter Greenaway's more accessible films. Though it's still riddled with some surreal imagery that made little, if any, sense to me, it is quite an effective and funny look at the institution of marriage. Now the Colpitts family can't really be accused of having much imagination when it comes to naming their offspring. "Cissie" (Joan Plowright) has "Cissie" (Juliet Stephenson) who has "Cissie (Joely Richardson) and none of these women make matches that they want to endure. There's plenty of philandering going on, so - well use the title as a clue as to just what happens now... This is a strongly characterised drama with three women very much at the top of their game, ably supported by Bernard Hill's rather eccentric "Madgett", that interweaves an intricate serious of - ok, not always the most plausible - sub-plots into a story that's ultimately a revenge comedy. It's a bit on the long side, and it does sag slightly when - I felt, anyway - there is less Plowright on the screen but the dialogue is quickly and pithily delivered, there is loads of rather natural nudity to lend authenticity to the earthiness of the topic and we are left with a powerful assassination of the marriage state and a clear illustration that there are more ways than one to skin a cat (and get away with it!). Michael Nyman has scored this jauntily and together with Sacha Vierny's eclectic style of cinematography, makes this film fun to watch with some deadly undercurrents.


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