Overview
Peter Greenaway became a director of international status with this witty, stylised, erotic country house murder mystery. In an apparently idyllic 17th century Wiltshire, an ambitious draughtsman is commissioned by the wife of an aristocrat to produce twelve drawings of her husband's estate and negotiates terms to include sexual favours from his employer.
But when a corpse is dragged from the moat, the draughtsman's drawings may reveal more than he realised. Extravagant costumes, a twisting plot, elegantly barbed dialogue and a mesmerising score by Michael Nyman make the film a treat for ear, eye and mind.
Related

Caligula: The Ultimate Cut Caligula: The Ultimate Cut
Period drama 2023 178 mins Director: Tinto Brass
Malcolm McDowell and Helen Mirren star in one of the most controversial films in cinema history, presented here in an entirely new cut compiled from the original rushes.

L'innocente L'innocente
Period drama 1976 130 mins Director: Luchino Visconti
Luchino Visconti's final film is a brilliant and disturbing drama set against the opulent backdrop of decadent, late 19th-century aristocracy.

The Horrible Dr. Hichcock The Horrible Dr. Hichcock
Horror 1962 87 mins Director: Riccardo Freda
A widowed doctor has gruesome plans for his new wife in this lush, Hitchcockian Italian gothic horror.

Lady Macbeth Lady Macbeth
Period drama 2017 89 mins Director: William Oldroyd
Florence Pugh shines in this exceptional British debut of a young wife's need for freedom, whatever the cost.

1976 1976
Period drama 2022 90 mins Director: Manuela Martelli
An unnervingly brilliant portrait of the ways in which the Pinochet dictatorship realised its brute force and pervasive influence, from debut director Manuela Martelli. Winner of the 2022 BFI London Film Festival First Feature Competition.

The Seventh Seal The Seventh Seal
Fantasy 1957 96 mins Director: Ingmar Bergman
Ingmar Bergmanβs best-known film is a brilliant allegorical drama starring Max von Sydow as a knight trying to elude his own death.

Burning an Illusion Burning an Illusion
Drama 1982 102 mins Director: Menelik Shabazz
Menelik Shabazzβs pioneering first feature traces the emotional and political growth of a young black couple in Thatcherβs London.

My Childhood My Childhood
Drama 1973 46 mins Director: Bill Douglas
The first part of Bill Douglasβ poetic and profoundly stirring autobiographical trilogy.

My Way Home My Way Home
Drama 1979 72 mins Director: Bill Douglas
Concluding his acclaimed Trilogy, Bill Douglasβ autobiographical film follows young Jamie as heβs conscripted in the RAF and finally feels at home.

The Elephant Man The Elephant Man
Biopic 1980 124 mins Director: David Lynch
David Lynch's moving true-life tale of the severely deformed Joseph Merrick and his rescue from the hell of a Victorian circus sideshow.

Distant Voices, Still Lives Distant Voices, Still Lives
Biopic 1988 84 mins Director: Terence Davies
Terence Davies' debut feature is a remarkable evocation of working-class family life in the 40s and 50s and a visionary exploration of memory.

Mogul Mowgli Mogul Mowgli
Drama 2020 89 mins Director: Bassam Tariq
Bassam Tariqβs visceral directorial debut, co-written with Riz Ahmed, finds a British-Pakistani rapperβs life spiralling out of control when, on the cusp of success, he succumbs to a debilitating illness.

A Zed and Two Noughts A Zed and Two Noughts
Animation & Artists Moving Image 1985 117 mins Director: Peter Greenaway
Following a fatal car crash involving a swan outside a zoo, twin-brother zoologists Oliver and Oswald become fascinated by the processes of decay.

Goltzius and the Pelican Company Goltzius and the Pelican Company
Biopic 2012 117 mins Director: Peter Greenaway
An artist stages a series of erotic dramatisations illustrating sexual taboos from the Old Testament, in this startling and shocking return from director Peter Greenaway.

Santosh Santosh
Drama 2023 128 mins Director: Sandhya Suri
A housewife-turned-cop is sucked into a high-profile case that has polarised the local community in this taut, north India-set thriller.

Night Games Night Games
Drama 1966 105 mins Director: Mai Zetterling
In Mai Zetterlingβs scathing rebuke of European entitlement, a man returns to his childhood home and confronts his repressed memories and desire.

The Girls The Girls
Drama 1968 100 mins Director: Mai Zetterling
Three stage actresses starring in Aristophanesβ classic play Lysistrata start to draw parallels with their own lives in Mai Zetterlingβs feminist comedy.

Loving Couples Loving Couples
Drama 1964 118 mins Director: Mai Zetterling
Three expectant mothers on a maternity ward recall their personal and sexual experiences in Mai Zetterlingβs bold, subversive debut.

The Great Ecstasy of Robert Carmichael The Great Ecstasy of Robert Carmichael
Thriller 2006 94 mins Director: Thomas Clay
Thomas Clayβs unflinching story of teen drugs and violence scandalised the British film industry 20 years ago, but is arguably ripe for rehabilitation

Pacifiction Pacifiction
Drama 2022 165 mins Director: Albert Serra
Albert Serraβs hypnotic Palme d'Or-nominated drama about the greed and hypocrisy of colonial power in Tahiti.