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Drowning by Numbers

January 01, 1970

Drowning by Numbers is a crime comedy-drama 1988 British-Dutch film directed by Peter Greenaway. It won the award for Best Artistic Contribution at the Cannes Film Festival of 1988.[3]

Drowning by Numbers
Drowning by Numbers film poster
Directed byPeter Greenaway
Written byPeter Greenaway
Produced byKees Kasander
Denis Wigman
StarringJoan Plowright
Juliet Stevenson
Joely Richardson
Bernard Hill
Jason Edwards
CinematographySacha Vierny
Edited byJohn Wilson
Music byMichael Nyman
Distributed byPrestige
Release date
  • 10 September 1988 (1988-09-10)
Running time
118 minutes
CountriesUnited Kingdom
Netherlands
LanguageEnglish
Budget£1,020,000[1]
Box office$424,773[2]

Plot edit

The film's plot centres on three married women — a grandmother, her daughter, and her niece — each named Cissie Colpitts. As the story progresses, each woman successively drowns her husband. The three Cissie Colpittses are played by Joan Plowright, Juliet Stevenson and Joely Richardson, while 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, most specifically 'The Billy Goats Gruff', because Madgett is constantly promised greater rewards as he tries his luck with each of the Cissies in turn. The link to folklore is further established by Madgett's son Smut, who recites the rules of various unusual games played by the characters as if they were ancient traditions. Many of these games are invented for the film, including:

In Drowning by Numbers, number-counting, the rules of games and the repetitions of the plot are all devices which emphasise structure. Through the course of the film each of the numbers 1 to 100 appear, the large majority in sequence, often seen in the background, sometimes printed on cattle, sometimes spoken by the characters.[4]

The repetitive, obsessive motif of the film echoes that of the soundtrack by Michael Nyman.

The film is set and was shot in and around Southwold, Suffolk, England, with key landmarks such as the Victorian water tower, Southwold Lighthouse, and the estuary of the River Blyth clearly identifiable.

Cast edit

Music edit

Drowning by Numbers
 
Soundtrack album by
Michael Nyman
Released
  • 1988 (1988)
Recorded1988
Genrecontemporary classical music, Minimalist music, film score
Length44:48
LabelVirgin, Caroline
DirectorMichael Nyman
ProducerDavid Cunningham & Michael Nyman
Michael Nyman chronology
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat
(1988) 		Drowning by Numbers
(1988) 		La Traversée de Paris
(1989)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic      [5]

On Greenaway's specific instructions, the film's musical score by Michael Nyman is entirely based on themes from the slow movement of Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante in E flat, bars 58 to 61 of which are heard in their original form immediately after each drowning. Greenaway alerted Nyman to the potential of this piece in the late 1970s and had previously used it as material for part of the score of his The Falls and for "The Masterwork" Award Winning Fish-Knife and Tristram Shandy.[6] "Trysting Fields" is the most complicated use of the material: every appoggiatura from the movement, and no other material from the piece, is used.[citation needed]

The album is the tenth by Nyman and the seventh to feature the Michael Nyman Band.

Track listing edit

  1. "Trysting Fields"
  2. "Sheep and Tides"
  3. "Great Death Game"
  4. "Drowning by Number 3"
  5. "Wheelbarrow Walk"
  6. "Dead Man's Catch"
  7. "Drowning by Number 2"
  8. "Bees in Trees"
  9. "Fish Beach"
  10. "Wedding Tango"
  11. "Crematorium Conspiracy"
  12. "Knowing the Ropes"
  13. "Endgame"

The back cover of the album booklet has a large number "58". Fred Ritzel has pointed out that the Skipping Girl (played by Natalie Morse) reaches number 58 in her counting game.[7] These are subtle ways of drawing attention to the key bars of the Mozart piece.

Reception edit

Reviews for Drowning by Numbers were mostly favourable, with the film garnering an 87% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes from 15 critics.[8] Roger Ebert, however, gave the work two stars, praising its landscapes as beautifully photographed but also concluding, "When the movie was over, I was not sure why Greenaway made it."[9]

Box Office edit

It made £220,000.[1]

In popular culture edit

  • Émilie Gillet, designer of the Mutable Instruments range of electronic musical instruments and synthesizer modules, named alternative firmware for her Tides synthesiser module Sheep, in reference to the game featured in the film. Subsequently, alternative firmware called Bees-in-the-Trees, for the Mutable Instrument Braids synthesiser module, and Dead Man's Catch, for the Mutable Instrument Peaks module, have been published.
  • Ambient electronic musician Yuri Tománek, who composed the music for the Netflix documentary series Cheer and Last Chance U releases recordings under the name Drowning by Numbers.
  • The film helped to inspire Black metal band Farsot's 2017 album Fail-Lure.
  • The How I Met Your Mother episode "Bad News" uses a numbering device inspired by the film. Numbers count down to the titular "Bad News", when character Marshall learns that his father has died.
  • J.M. DeMatteis referenced the film in Marc Spector:"Moon Knight" #29.

References edit

  1. ^ a b "Back to the Future: The Fall and Rise of the British Film Industry in the 1980s - An Information Briefing" (PDF). British Film Institute. 2005. p. 22.
  2. ^ "Drowning by Numbers". Box Office Mojo.
  3. ^ "Festival de Cannes: Drowning by Numbers". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 26 July 2009.
  4. ^ . Archived from the original on 14 January 2018. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
  5. ^ Cook, Stephen. Drowning by Numbers at AllMusic
  6. ^ Michael Nyman, sleevenotes to Drowning by Numbers CD, Virgin Records CDVE23, 1988
  7. ^ Fred Ritzel, "Planspiele, zum Verhältnis von Bild und Musik bei Peter Greenaway und Michael Nyman", 1993 (in German)
  8. ^ "Drowning by Numbers (1988)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
  9. ^ Ebert, Roger (7 June 1991). "Drowning By Numbers Movie Review (1991)". Retrieved 27 January 2017.

External links edit

  • Drowning by Numbers at petergreenaway.org.uk
  • Drowning by Numbers at IMDb  
  • Drowning by Numbers at Rotten Tomatoes
  • Drowning by Numbers at AllMovie

January 01, 1970
drowning, numbers, crime, comedy, drama, 1988, british, dutch, film, directed, peter, greenaway, award, best, artistic, contribution, cannes, film, festival, 1988, film, posterdirected, bypeter, greenawaywritten, bypeter, greenawayproduced, bykees, kasanderden. Drowning by Numbers is a crime comedy drama 1988 British Dutch film directed by Peter Greenaway It won the award for Best Artistic Contribution at the Cannes Film Festival of 1988 3 Drowning by NumbersDrowning by Numbers film posterDirected byPeter GreenawayWritten byPeter GreenawayProduced byKees KasanderDenis WigmanStarringJoan PlowrightJuliet StevensonJoely RichardsonBernard HillJason EdwardsCinematographySacha ViernyEdited byJohn WilsonMusic byMichael NymanDistributed byPrestigeRelease date10 September 1988 1988 09 10 Running time118 minutesCountriesUnited KingdomNetherlandsLanguageEnglishBudget 1 020 000 1 Box office 424 773 2 Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Music 3 1 Track listing 4 Reception 4 1 Box Office 5 In popular culture 6 References 7 External linksPlot editThe film s plot centres on three married women a grandmother her daughter and her niece each named Cissie Colpitts As the story progresses each woman successively drowns her husband The three Cissie Colpittses are played by Joan Plowright Juliet Stevenson and Joely Richardson while 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 most specifically The Billy Goats Gruff because Madgett is constantly promised greater rewards as he tries his luck with each of the Cissies in turn The link to folklore is further established by Madgett s son Smut who recites the rules of various unusual games played by the characters as if they were ancient traditions Many of these games are invented for the film including Bees in the Trees Dawn Card Castles Deadman s Catch Flights of Fancy or Reverse Strip Jump The Great Death Game Hangman s Cricket The Hare and Hounds Sheep and Tides In Drowning by Numbers number counting the rules of games and the repetitions of the plot are all devices which emphasise structure Through the course of the film each of the numbers 1 to 100 appear the large majority in sequence often seen in the background sometimes printed on cattle sometimes spoken by the characters 4 The repetitive obsessive motif of the film echoes that of the soundtrack by Michael Nyman The film is set and was shot in and around Southwold Suffolk England with key landmarks such as the Victorian water tower Southwold Lighthouse and the estuary of the River Blyth clearly identifiable Cast editJoan Plowright Cissie Colpitts Juliet Stevenson Cissie Colpitts Joely Richardson Cissie Colpitts Bernard Hill Madgett Jason Edwards Smut Bryan Pringle Jake Trevor Cooper Hardy David Morrissey Bellamy John Rogan Gregory Paul Mooney Teigan Jane Gurnett Nancy Kenny Ireland Jonah Bognor Michael Percival Moses Bognor Joanna Dickens Mrs Hardy Janine Duvitski Marina BellamyMusic editDrowning by Numbers nbsp Soundtrack album by Michael NymanReleased1988 1988 Recorded1988Genrecontemporary classical music Minimalist music film scoreLength44 48LabelVirgin CarolineDirectorMichael NymanProducerDavid Cunningham amp Michael NymanMichael Nyman chronologyThe Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat 1988 Drowning by Numbers 1988 La Traversee de Paris 1989 Professional ratingsReview scoresSourceRatingAllmusic nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 5 On Greenaway s specific instructions the film s musical score by Michael Nyman is entirely based on themes from the slow movement of Mozart s Sinfonia Concertante in E flat bars 58 to 61 of which are heard in their original form immediately after each drowning Greenaway alerted Nyman to the potential of this piece in the late 1970s and had previously used it as material for part of the score of his The Falls and for The Masterwork Award Winning Fish Knife and Tristram Shandy 6 Trysting Fields is the most complicated use of the material every appoggiatura from the movement and no other material from the piece is used citation needed The album is the tenth by Nyman and the seventh to feature the Michael Nyman Band Track listing edit Trysting Fields Sheep and Tides Great Death Game Drowning by Number 3 Wheelbarrow Walk Dead Man s Catch Drowning by Number 2 Bees in Trees Fish Beach Wedding Tango Crematorium Conspiracy Knowing the Ropes Endgame The back cover of the album booklet has a large number 58 Fred Ritzel has pointed out that the Skipping Girl played by Natalie Morse reaches number 58 in her counting game 7 These are subtle ways of drawing attention to the key bars of the Mozart piece Reception editReviews for Drowning by Numbers were mostly favourable with the film garnering an 87 approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes from 15 critics 8 Roger Ebert however gave the work two stars praising its landscapes as beautifully photographed but also concluding When the movie was over I was not sure why Greenaway made it 9 Box Office edit It made 220 000 1 In popular culture editEmilie Gillet designer of the Mutable Instruments range of electronic musical instruments and synthesizer modules named alternative firmware for her Tides synthesiser module Sheep in reference to the game featured in the film Subsequently alternative firmware called Bees in the Trees for the Mutable Instrument Braids synthesiser module and Dead Man s Catch for the Mutable Instrument Peaks module have been published Ambient electronic musician Yuri Tomanek who composed the music for the Netflix documentary series Cheer and Last Chance U releases recordings under the name Drowning by Numbers The film helped to inspire Black metal band Farsot s 2017 album Fail Lure The How I Met Your Mother episode Bad News uses a numbering device inspired by the film Numbers count down to the titular Bad News when character Marshall learns that his father has died J M DeMatteis referenced the film in Marc Spector Moon Knight 29 References edit a b Back to the Future The Fall and Rise of the British Film Industry in the 1980s An Information Briefing PDF British Film Institute 2005 p 22 Drowning by Numbers Box Office Mojo Festival de Cannes Drowning by Numbers festival cannes com Retrieved 26 July 2009 Number locations Archived from the original on 14 January 2018 Retrieved 31 August 2019 Cook Stephen Drowning by Numbers at AllMusic Michael Nyman sleevenotes to Drowning by Numbers CD Virgin Records CDVE23 1988 Fred Ritzel Planspiele zum Verhaltnis von Bild und Musik bei Peter Greenaway und Michael Nyman 1993 in German Drowning by Numbers 1988 Rotten Tomatoes Retrieved 12 December 2022 Ebert Roger 7 June 1991 Drowning By Numbers Movie Review 1991 Retrieved 27 January 2017 External links editDrowning by Numbers at petergreenaway org uk Drowning by Numbers at IMDb nbsp Drowning by Numbers at Rotten Tomatoes Drowning by Numbers at AllMovie Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Drowning by Numbers amp oldid 1222739835, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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