THE DRAUGHTSMAN'S CONTRACT (1982) Cert 15
Anthony Higgins, Janet Suzman, Anne-Louise Lambert. Directed by Peter Greenaway. (1hr 48m)

Peter Greenaway's 17th century erotic murder mystery launched him as a global star of art cinema in 1982. It's the most purely enjoyable of all his films, certainly the most humourous: an intellectual puzzlebox that revels from the very start in the bawdy and licentious lifestyle of the Jacobean aristocracy. A conceited artist, Mr Neville, receives a commission from the aristocratic Mrs Virginia Herbert to produce 12 sketches of her beautiful country house as a gift for her cold and neglectful husband. In return she offers him not just money and accommodation for the duration of the project but also her sexual favours. However, Neville's arrogance blinds him to the much bigger and more devious plot in which he is gradually being ensnared. Intent on drawing exactly what he sees, he records several details which appear to indicate that a murder has been committed. But has it? And if so, whose? Underpinned by a mesmerising musical score by the then little-known composer Michael Nyman, as well as Curtis Clark's beautiful photography and spectacular Restoration era costumes, it is a luscious cinematic feast for the ears, the eyes and the mind.