Absolutely the worst movie.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

the seduction. this is the purpose and the basic virtue. ambiguous, strange, cold, sarcastic, a garden of dialogues, colors and emotions. a thriller and chronicle of use of the other as simple tool. a film of its director. so, nothing surprising because the eccentricity, the fireworks of few scenes, the grotesque and its bizarre poetry are present as marks of a style. like the humor, costumes, clash between a young painter and an obscure universe of interests , plans and contracts. a film who seems be one of stories about sins in the too clear manner. and this could be its basic source of seduction.

Welsh-born British screenwriter, painter and director Peter Greenaway's second feature film which he wrote, is a British production which was shot on various locations at the Groombridge Place in Kent, England and produced by David Payne. It tells the story about Mr. Neville, a contemptuous young artist who comes to a mansion in the English countryside owned by Mr. Herbert who lives there with his wife Mrs. Virginia Herbert, her daughter Mr. Talmann and the daughter's husband Mr. Talmann. Mr. Neville has been hired by Mrs. Herbert to produce a series of twelve landscape drawings for her estranged husband, but in one part of their contract Mr. Neville has made a demand that Mrs. Herbert meets him in private whenever he wants to and fulfils his requests. Mr. Neville is granted his wishes by Mrs. Herbert after having started on the drawings, but as time goes by he gains a bad reputation amongst the residents and becomes such a burden to Mrs. Herbert that she decides to put an end to the contract. When Mr. Neville makes it clear that he is not willing to annul the agreement, Mrs. Herbert's daughter tries to blackmail him into signing a new contract where he is the one that has to abide her requests.Acutely and precisely directed by experimental filmmaker Peter Greenaway, this surreal and unconventional period piece which is set in England in 1694 during the coregency of the Kingdoms of Ireland, England and Scotland, draws a variegated portrayal of an unorthodox contract that gradually instigates a deceitful game driven by power, sex, and gender issues. While notable for it's colorful milieu depictions, fine art direction by English costume designer Bob Ringwood, cinematography by American cinematographer Curtis Clark and costume design by English costume designer Sue Blane, this dialog-driven and plot-driven fictional tale contains a remarkable score by the director's frequent collaborator, British pianist and composer Michael Nyman which emphasizes it's mystifying atmosphere.This rhythmic, sarcastically humorous, erotic, somewhat overstated and inventive 17th century social-satire is impelled and reinforced by it's quick-witted dialog, cogent narrative structure and the splendid acting performances by English actor Anthony Higgins, South African-born British actress and director Janet Suzman and Australian actress Anne Louise Lambert. A detailed, picturesque and intriguing mystery which gained a nomination for the International Fantasy Film Award for Best Film at the 4th Fantasport International Film Festival in 1984.

I have just watched this on DVD for the fourth or fifth time and it's still one of my most favourite films. Greenaway is visually incredibly satisfying, his films are entire of themselves. You always come away with images fixed in your head. And you gain something each time you watch that you didn't notice before. Check out references to artists such as Vermeer, the fact that all the clothes are in black and white - and they switch in the last scene; a visual feast, set in beautiful countryside. So many layers, so beautifully done. And you become absorbed by the feeling of the film, it stays with you. A film you have to think about, now there's a thing!

A bizarre, quite unique period film, it is full of odd occurrences and it is technically quite well made, however the product is less than satisfying overall. Some of the dialogue is just rambling, and towards the end I really felt that this bogged down the production, despite some funny lines in the mix. The characters come off as rather cold, and some sequences in the film are not really explained properly. But is this confused and unwelcoming atmosphere what Greenaway intended? It might well be, even if knowing that does not help fix the uneasiness that one might feel when watching it. But enough of the 'bad', for the film has some great aspects too. Michael Nyman composes some wonderful music to fit alongside the action, the sets and costumes are flashy and eye-catching, and Greenaway particularly pays attention to giving the material a unique feel with the lighting design. It is an unusual film, and that makes it fascinating. Not the best out there, and from its director I prefer 'A Zed and Two Noughts', however this one is still worth a look.