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Peter Greenaway: Fear of Drowning by numbers
By Peter Greenaway.
- GenresFilm
154 pages, Paperback
First published December 12, 1989
About the author
Peter Greenaway
84 books38 followersPeter Greenaway, CBE is a British film director. He is currently professor of cinema studies at the European Graduate School in Saas-Fee, Switzerland.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 31, 2025
I've been intrigued by Peter Greenaway's 1988 film Drowning by Numbers ever since I first saw it (at the wonderful Charles Theatre in Baltimore) during a revival of Greenaway's older works that took place in the wake of the success of The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover in 1989.
While I admire many of Greenaway's early films, Drowning by Numbers has always struck as something really special: a film that puts its formal structure front-and-center while allowing the capable cast to deliver largely naturalistic performances. That second point is unusual for Greenaway: typically his films feature intentionally awkward dialogue delivered in a highly mannered style that can be off-putting for many audience members.
Woven throughout Drowning by Numbers is an obsession with games, most of which are either invented for the film or loosely adapted from traditional English folk games. The film is a game in itself, made explicit through a counting from one to one hundred that exactly spans the length of the film.
Given my high level of interest in Drowning by Numbers, I had wanted to track down this companion book for a while, and I finally managed it. Greenaway uses this book to provide copious background information on the film, with a heavy focus on the works of classical art that inspired specific scenes. More importantly, he candidly expresses his goals for the film:
The statement above comes from entry 60 (out of 100 total entries) that make up the book. Later, in entry 83, Greenaway says:
This second statement makes sense in light of the fact that the film's plot is a loose adaptation of "The Three Billy Goats Gruff" fairy tale, wherein Greenaway's adult male protagonist fails three times in his attempts to exploit his professional position for sexual advantage (and these failures eventually cost him his life).
Given several contradictory statements throughout Fear of Drowning by numbers (such as the ones noted above), it quickly becomes clear that the book is also structured like a game, and if it's not as interesting a journey as the film itself, it's still a worthwhile read for anyone who is obsessed with the film Drowning by Numbers. The target audience may be a small group, but members of that group will get something of a necessary fix from perusing these pages.
While I admire many of Greenaway's early films, Drowning by Numbers has always struck as something really special: a film that puts its formal structure front-and-center while allowing the capable cast to deliver largely naturalistic performances. That second point is unusual for Greenaway: typically his films feature intentionally awkward dialogue delivered in a highly mannered style that can be off-putting for many audience members.
Woven throughout Drowning by Numbers is an obsession with games, most of which are either invented for the film or loosely adapted from traditional English folk games. The film is a game in itself, made explicit through a counting from one to one hundred that exactly spans the length of the film.
Given my high level of interest in Drowning by Numbers, I had wanted to track down this companion book for a while, and I finally managed it. Greenaway uses this book to provide copious background information on the film, with a heavy focus on the works of classical art that inspired specific scenes. More importantly, he candidly expresses his goals for the film:
...the film is about the games people play, and if not directly the games - then the characteristics of games and game-playing - the rituals, the role-playing and competitiveness, the acknowledgement of conventions and the display of orthodoxies.
The statement above comes from entry 60 (out of 100 total entries) that make up the book. Later, in entry 83, Greenaway says:
Drowning by Numbers is a speculative, ironic, amused rumination on potency - male potency.
This second statement makes sense in light of the fact that the film's plot is a loose adaptation of "The Three Billy Goats Gruff" fairy tale, wherein Greenaway's adult male protagonist fails three times in his attempts to exploit his professional position for sexual advantage (and these failures eventually cost him his life).
Given several contradictory statements throughout Fear of Drowning by numbers (such as the ones noted above), it quickly becomes clear that the book is also structured like a game, and if it's not as interesting a journey as the film itself, it's still a worthwhile read for anyone who is obsessed with the film Drowning by Numbers. The target audience may be a small group, but members of that group will get something of a necessary fix from perusing these pages.
August 11, 2014
All the supplemental information, notes, annecdotes, lists, etc that you could ever need/desire while viewing Peter Greenaway's Drowning by Numbers. although I'm sure there's in fact much more. It's rather bottomless.
October 21, 2020
A fine companion to Drowning by Numbers, adding more depth and more layers to a work that's just filled with allusions and beauty and humor and murder.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews