Drowning by Numbers

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Drowning by Numbers

R,

1991,

1h 59m,

Comedy

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Watchlist

Watchlist

88%

16 Reviews

Tomatometer

88%

2,500+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

88%

Tomatometer

16 Reviews

88%

Popcornmeter

2,500+ Ratings

Cissie Colpitts (Joan Plowright) drowns her cheating husband and in the ensuing cover-up enlists the help of lonely coroner Henry Madgett (Bernard Hill), an old friend with a longstanding weakness for her charms. But when Cissie's daughter (Juliet Stevenson) and granddaughter (Joely Richardson) both decide to resort to the same methods for solving conflicts with their own frustrating husbands, the Colpitts women and their repeated appeals for help begin to wear on Madgett's conscience.

Jake Cole

Slant Magazine

May 1, 2023

Peter Greenaway’s Drowning by Numbers is perhaps the most direct illustration of the filmmaker’s key thematic and aesthetic interest in ascribing structure to a chaotic universe.

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Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

Jan 1, 2000

2/4

Here is a movie so personal and quirky that perhaps you will enjoy it more than I did, and I do not want to spoil your fun, since the movie is playful above everything else.

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Rene Jordan

El Nuevo Herald (Miami)

Dec 12, 2022

The most unbearable film by Peter Greenaway. [Full review in Spanish]

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Alain Masson

Positif

May 4, 2022

The fact that there are so many rules and that they can be degraded make a supreme form of regularity impossible at the same time as it becomes more essential, more urgent. Such formal matters permeate the whole film.

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Brian D. Johnson

Maclean's Magazine

Oct 11, 2019

Drowning by Numbers is a surreal, satirical descent to the dark side of English gamesmanship. It is a brilliant black comedy.

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Hilary Mantel

The Spectator

Apr 9, 2019

It never seems safe to recommend [director Peter] Greenaway; only to say that, take it or leave it, he is a genius.

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Ron W

Jul 28, 2018

Another arty one. I had no clue what to expect, but not that! Visually very impressive, story very surreal, death everywhere!

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Harry R

May 22, 2017

One of the most strangest films of Greenaway.

George L

Feb 9, 2017

Some sort of strange fiction film, instead of science fiction. Being english, this is of course killings, done by psychopaths that don't care about the other psychopaths that they all are. The english way has always been psychopathic, it was simply not called that before. At least there was Joelly, the so goody-looking one, in bathing suit and half off a couple of times. The film also reminded me of some female version of sketches by the Monty Pythons.

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Abraham W

Feb 9, 2017

Some sort of strange fiction film, instead of science fiction. Being english, this is of course killings, done by psychopaths that don't care about the other psychopaths that they all are. The english way has always been psychopathic, it was simply not called that before. At least there was Joelly, the so goody-looking one, in bathing suit and half off a couple of times. The film also reminded me of some female version of sketches by the Monty Pythons.

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Hermione S

Feb 2, 2017

Visually stunning. I long for a DVD or Blu-ray version that doesn't crop the film first, to honor the spectacular cinematography and second, to play the 'game' presented by the film, you may very well need to see the entire image.

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Peter Greenaway

Director

Bernard Hill

Madgett

Joan Plowright

Cissie Colpitts 1

Juliet Stevenson

Cissie Colpitts 2

Joely Richardson

Cissie Colpitts 3

Jason Edwards

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Synopsis

Cissie Colpitts (Joan Plowright) drowns her cheating husband and in the ensuing cover-up enlists the help of lonely coroner Henry Madgett (Bernard Hill), an old friend with a longstanding weakness for her charms. But when Cissie's daughter (Juliet Stevenson) and granddaughter (Joely Richardson) both decide to resort to the same methods for solving conflicts with their own frustrating husbands, the Colpitts women and their repeated appeals for help begin to wear on Madgett's conscience.

Director: Peter Greenaway
Producer: Kees Kasander, Denis Wigman
Screenwriter: Peter Greenaway
Production Co: Allarts Enterprises
Rating: R
Genre: Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Apr 26, 1991, Original
Release Date (DVD): Apr 23, 2012
Box Office (Gross USA): $22.1K
Runtime: 1h 59m
Sound Mix: Surround

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