Peter Greenaway

Drowning by Numbers (1988) features a plot where three women with the same name all drown their husbands, while a boy counts from 1 to 100 throughout the film. The numbers physically appear in the background of scenes as a literal game for the viewer. It stars Joan Plowright in multiple roles.

This 1989 film is a highly stylized, notorious dark comedy about a cruel restaurant owner, his neglected wife, and her secret lover. It is famous for its extreme theatricality, explicit content, and the distinct color-coded lighting used for different locations. Michael Gambon and Helen Mirren star in the leading roles.

Yes, Greenaway was trained as a painter and worked as a film editor for the Central Office of Information before directing features. His films often share a deep obsession with map-making, cataloging, and references to Renaissance art. This visual arts background heavily informs the formally structured, painterly compositions of his movies.

Greenaway's films are rigidly structured using numerical sequences, alphabetical orders, and references to classical music. For example, The Draughtsman's Contract (1982) is structured around a series of 12 drawings that a wealthy woman commissions from an arrogant artist. This formalism is a deliberate rejection of traditional narrative cinema.