directed by Peter
Greenaway
UK / Netherlands 1988
Three related women, a mother, her daughter
and her niece (played by Joan Plowright, Juliet Stevenson and Joely
Richardson), are all known by the name Cissie Colpitts. Also in common are their
dissatisfaction with their husband's philandering ways. The solution ? - drown
each of them and make it look like an accident. The reluctant local coroner, a
curmudgeon called Madgett, is drawn in to help hide the murders. His eventual
price? - sexual favors. The story is sequentially interspersed with the numbers
one to one-hundred, which appear passively hidden though easily visible,
throughout the entirety of the film.
Regarded as one of Greenaways finest, it showcases his unique brand of cinema
with beautiful, teasing imagery while perfectly mirroring a literary riddle of
murder, morality and sexual solidarity. The director's following, who enjoy his
quirky characters, are in their nirvana with this offering. Many may find it
tedious and often disjointed. Reactions often vary from strongly like to
strongly dislike. Unfortunately for me, I am in the latter camp, but can plainly
see how others can be attracted to this form of cinema 'madness'. Ripe with the
crossword style appeal (in searching for the numbers), few can argue about the
beauty cinematography of the countryside and landscapes. Perhaps Greenaway's
most abundantly desirable facet in his films are that they are dissimilar to
most everything else existing in movies today. Eclectic in the extreme.
out
of 
Theatrical Release: September 10th, 1988 - Toronto Film Festival
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DVD Review: FilmFour- Region 0 - PAL
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| Distribution | FilmFour - Region 0 - PAL |
| Runtime | 1:53:36 |
| Video | 1.41:1
Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 4.67 mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s |
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NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes. |
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| Bitrate: |
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| Audio | English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono) |
| Subtitles | None |
| Features |
Release Information: Edition Details:
• Theatrical Trailer |
| Comments: |
This DVD is not exceptionally sharp or well-done. The colors look like they may be quite beautiful during filming, however they are hazy and dull in this Australian DVD offering. It seems to look acceptable on a tube, but the flaws are really prevalent when projected. Audio is consistent. No subtitles and virtually no extras. Aspect ratio seems right in composition although sources indicate that the film was shot partially open matte (mostly exteriors) and hard matted at 1.66:1 (all interiors), so the 1:1.41 DVD is as close as we have seen so far for this film. NOTE: Overscan may kill the viewablity of a few of the numbers - be sure to zoom in!
The other DVD
offerings (Japan etc.) are even poorer (and censored I believe). Greenaway fans may not mind
this lackluster presentation, but anyone looking for
a strong, clean image may be disappointed with this release. I suspect, as other Greenaway films on DVD are of about the same quality that the prints are
poor and in need of restoration. This may be the case, regardless we have a weak DVD
from FilmFour. |
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Gary Tooze
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