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IMDb > Drowning by Numbers (1988)
Drowning by Numbers
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Drowning by Numbers (1988) More at IMDbPro »

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Drowning by Numbers (1988) -- Clip: Funeral

Overview

User Rating:
6.8/10   3,201 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 2% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writer:
Peter Greenaway (written by)
Contact:
View company contact information for Drowning by Numbers on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
June 1991 (USA) more
Genre:
Tagline:
The great death game.
Plot:
Tired of her husband's philanderous ways, the mother of two daughters drowns her husband. With the reluctant help of the local coroner... more | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
Awards:
3 wins & 1 nomination more
User Reviews:
An intriguing puzzle that's fun to decipher more (26 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)
Joan Plowright ... Cissie Colpitts 1

Juliet Stevenson ... Cissie Colpitts 2

Joely Richardson ... Cissie Colpitts 3

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 Bellamy
more
Create a character page for: ?

Additional Details

Runtime:
118 min
Country:
Language:
Colour:
Aspect Ratio:
1.66 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Filming Locations:

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
The composition of the shot of Hardy's death mimics the painting by Andrea Mantegna called 'The Lamentation Over A Dead Christ (1480)'. more
Quotes:
Cissie Colpitts 1: The flies are settling on him.
Madgett: Well, shoo them off. Use a newspaper.
Cissie Colpitts 1: Madgett, I'm in need of legal aid, not a flyswatter.
more
Movie Connections:
References Vertical Features Remake (1978) more
Soundtrack:
2nd Movement of Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante for Violin, Viola and Orchestra K354 more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
10 out of 12 people found the following review useful.
An intriguing puzzle that's fun to decipher, 15 August 1999
10/10
Author: Afracious from England

This is a picture that offers so much to the viewer. It is beautiful, but also, at times, grotesque. It is intriguing and complex, and covers a cornucopia of subjects. The film has an elegant Englishness about it. It is a film that always requires your attention and one that you will want to return to.

The film begins with a young girl (adorned in a dress from Velazquez's painting Las Meninas) who is skipping and counting stars, 100 of them (some of these stars have Greenaway names like Hoyten, Luper and Spica). She is the film's navigator.

The story is about three women, all with the same name, Cissie Colpitts, each from different age groups, who have something in common, they each murder their husbands by drowning them. They escape punishment from this by consenting to the needs of an amorous coroner, Madgett. Madgett's young son, Smut, tells us about different games, each of them rather odd. The film has a wonderful surreal feel to it. For instance, a man and a woman on bicycles collide with two dead cows, but it hardly perturbs them. Throughout the film there are the numbers 1 to 100 placed in ascending order on display in some peculiar positions. It's a fascinating riddle.

Was the above review useful to you?
more (26 total)

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