AllMovie

The Draughtsman's Contract is a seductive cinematic puzzle, with all the visual richness and style that have come to be associated with the film's director, Peter Greenaway. Like other Greenaway efforts, the story is dense with multiple layers. Deception, both of fact and motive, permeate the texture to the point that there is almost too much for audiences to assimilate in one viewing. While the performances are uniformly excellent, it is Greenaway's ability to create a vivid historical setting that most distinguishes the film. Michael Nyman's carefully crafted and historically appropriate score contributes greatly to the verisimilitude. The cinematography is unusually straightforward for a Greenaway film, with numerous static camera set-ups providing a head-on look at the proceedings.