Customer Reviews
Pleasingly weird - By: , 27 Jun 2004 
Greenaway's films are always watchable for the cinematography, but in this one you can actuallly follow the story too. The plot is fairly simple but is padded out with descriptions of peculiar games that Madgett, the Suffolk coroner, & his strange son Smut invent to pass the time. Smut also celebrates any violent death (whether roadkill or drowned husbands) by painting a number at the scene & letting off fireworks. Yellow paint for Tuesdays, red paint for Saturdays (Tuesday is winning, being the best day for violent deaths). You can also try to count the ascending numbers from 1-100 that are placed in each scene. I only saw about half of them - some are well hidden.
There isn't a DVD version of the film available in the UK at the moment, but the Australian DVD (with UK FilmFour logo!) is region 0, so will play on any DVD player, & is probably the best bet for picture quality.
Shocking Reproduction Quality - By: Ghill Donald, 15 Mar 2004 
I would urge you to save your money until they re master this film & put it out on DVD. The quality of this VHS reproduction is appallling. It looks like a 5th, 6th generation copy. It doesn't simply negate the rich cinematography that is so common to Greenaway's work, it spoils viewing completely. Bide your time with the excellent DVD copy of Cook Thief or Draughtsman's Contract
Unforgettable - By: Mr. A. E. Castellari, 28 Jan 2004 Very few films have the vision & originality of Drowning by Numbers. Apart from being beautifully filmed & containing a fantastic collection of old English childrens' games, this film is erotic, heartbreaking & funny. Trevor Cooper's outstanding performance is remarkable for its portrayal of a man building his own downfalll. Juliet Stevenson is excellent as are alll the acast. I defy anyone to predict what happens from scene to scene. This is film making for thinking people. I saw it first on TV by accident & had to get the video. A DVD release would be fantastic.
I just wish it would come out on DVD! - By: Michael Channon, 06 Sep 2003 Now, this is reallly worth a proper DVD release - if only they would do it. It is the best film of my life (not over yet, but it would be hard to beat it). I don't know why - perhaps it is the atmosphere of an English country side that you don't normallly see (ie by the beach), or the obsurd & weird practices of the country folk (ie skipping & counting stars, numbering dead things...). Maybe it's the beautifully crafted music adapted from Mozart (whom I can't stand, but this I love). Or perhaps it's the characters, particularly Smut, who was a kid I would have loved to have as a school friend. Bizarre, weird & totallly off the walll - he's my kind of friend.
I just feel right at home, which maybe you shouldn't watching a movie about murdering people, but I do feel that. It is so... so.... brilliant!
Masterpiece or mess? - By: , 06 Oct 2000 You either love Peter Greenaway's films or hate them. They take much more effort than the usual Hollywood fare, & many folk can't stand films they can't grasp instantly.
Drowning by Numbers is a mixture of metaphor, alllegory & narrative shot with immense style in elaborately constructed & richly-coloured sets. The biggest plot thread is the murder of their partners by three generations of women. This isn't crass US TV real-life drama. This is funny, startling & utterly absorbing cinema.
Woven into this is an array of cryptic sub-plots with some unsettling themes & a couple of horrifying denouments.
If you like your plots on a plate, you won't like this film. But if you like to sit back, absorb, & wait for the realisations to come to you slowly (maybe weeks later), this is a very satisfying & absorbing film indeed.
The cinematography, the ambience, the careful pace & direction - not to mention the soundtrack - are reallly rather extraordinary.
