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53-522: The film is described by co-producer Jean Labadie as "a return to the Greenaway of The Draughtsman's Contract ." It features Greenaway's trademark neoclassical compositions and graphic sexuality. The music is by Włodek Pawlik . The film premiered in competition, at the Venice Film Festival . Nightwatching is the first feature in Greenaway's film series "Dutch Masters". The following film in

106-403: A weighted average of 8.3/10. The site's consensus reads: "Smart and utterly original, The Draughtsman's Contract is a period piece that marks the further maturation of a writer-director with a thrillingly unique vision". Roger Ebert , who gave the film a full four stars, wrote, "What we have here is a tantalizing puzzle, wrapped in eroticism and presented with the utmost elegance. [...] All of

159-485: A 3-arch masonry bridge. The train fell into Digeddi Brook at Little Ffordd Fawr, near Llanigon. The driver George Parker died, and his stoker John Williams had life changing injuries. The line closed in 1962, due to the line's commercial underperformance. Hay St. Mary's Football Club is based on Hay Sports Field, off Brecon Road, and they compete in the Mid-Wales Football League. Hay-on-Wye Cricket Club

212-451: A Welsh name, Gelli was recorded, and Gelli gandrell in 1614; the two names may have been used concurrently in 1625. The English language name, Hay , is derived from Old English hæg , possibly meaning a "fenced area" and a noun used in late Saxon and Norman times for an enclosure in a forest. The Welsh word celli ( lenited to Gelli ) has a range of meanings, including wooded areas of various extents. The legal name of

265-411: A cordless phone in the 17th century and the inclusion on the walls of the house of paintings by Greenaway in emulation of Roy Lichtenstein which are partly visible in the released version of the film. The released final version provides fewer explanations to the plot's numerous oddities and mysteries. The main murder mystery is never solved, though little doubt remains as to who did it. The reasons for

318-450: A featurette on the film's digital restoration. Hay-on-Wye Hay-on-Wye , or simply Hay ( Welsh : Y Gelli Gandryll ; Welsh pronunciation: [ə ˈɡɛɬi ˈgandrɪɬ] or simply Y Gelli ), is a market town and community in Powys , Wales , in the historic county of Brecknockshire . With over twenty bookshops, it is often described as a "town of books" ; it is both

371-430: A filmmaker, spent three weeks drawing a house near Hay-on-Wye while holidaying with his family. Much like Mr Neville in the final film, every day he would work on a particular view at a set time, to preserve the lighting effects while sketching from day to day. The hands shown drawing in the film are Greenaway's own, as are the completed drawings. The original cut of the film was about three hours long. The opening scene

424-566: A generalized memory of Purcell, rather than specific memories, so a piece as readily recognizable as " Dido's Lament " was not considered an acceptable source of a ground. Purcell is credited as a "music consultant". The album was the fourth album release by Michael Nyman and the third to feature the Michael Nyman Band . "It's like harpsichord and a lot of strings , woodwind and a bit of brass ," remarked Neil Hannon , frontman of The Divine Comedy . "Somehow they just manage to… rock. With

477-491: A group portrait. The film posits a conspiracy to murder within the musketeer regiment of Frans Banninck Cocq and Willem van Ruytenburch , and suggests that Rembrandt may have immortalized a conspiracy theory using subtle allegory in his group portrait of the regiment, subverting what was to have been a highly prestigious commission for both painter and subject. The film also depicts Rembrandt's personal life, and suggests he suffered serious consequences in later life as

530-465: A result of the accusation contained in his most famous painting. This article about a biographical film is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . The Draughtsman%27s Contract The Draughtsman's Contract is a 1982 British period comedy-drama film written and directed by Peter Greenaway – his first conventional feature film (following the feature-length mockumentary The Falls ). Originally produced for Channel 4 ,

583-409: A second contract, in which he agrees to comply with her sexual demands, rather than she with his. Mrs Talman wishes to become pregnant, and knows this is unlikely to happen with her husband. Mr Herbert does not return when expected, and his dead body is eventually discovered in the moat. Mr Neville completes his drawings and leaves, but returns to make an unlucky thirteenth drawing. During his visit, he

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636-507: A spur of land between the River Wye and Dulas Brook, about 200 metres east of Hay Tump. The town was fortified with walls and defended by Hay Castle , which appears to have been built from the late 12th century onwards. The earlier centre of settlement around Hay Tump and St Mary's Church lay outside the later town walls. A chapel dedicated to St John was subsequently built inside the town walls around 1254. In post- conquest times, Hay-on-Wye

689-580: A vengeance." The following ground sources are taken from the chart in Pwyll ap Siôn's The Music of Michael Nyman: Text, Context and Intertext , reordered to match their sequence on the album. The first music heard in the film is, in fact, a bit of Purcell's song "Queen of the Night." "The Disposition of the Linen," in its Nyman formulation, is a waltz , a form that postdates Purcell by c.  150 years. The album

742-515: Is a ward called Hay which covers the same area as the community of Hay. The parish of Hay was created around 1135 from the north-eastern parts of the older parish of Llanigon. Until 1536 Hay was a marcher lordship . In 1536 the Hay lordship was included in the new county of Brecknockshire. The area of the fortified town was sometimes described as a borough , but it was never given a charter and it appears that no borough council ever operated; instead

795-484: Is a destination for bibliophiles in the United Kingdom, with two dozen bookshops , many selling specialist and second-hand books , although the number has declined sharply in recent years, many becoming general antique shops and similar. Hay-on-Wye was already well known for its many bookshops before the festival was launched. Richard Booth opened his first shop there, called The Old Fire Station, in 1962, and by

848-712: Is also located on Hay Sports Field. The 1st team compete in The Marches Cricket League. Hay-on-Wye bowling club is affiliated to the Mid Wales Bowling Association and the Women's Mid Wales Bowling Association. Hay Golf Club (now defunct) was founded in 1903. The club continued on its nine-hole course until the onset of World War II . Hay hosts a philosophy and music festival, HowTheLightGetsIn , which occurs annually in May. It aims "to get philosophy out of

901-407: Is in the area known as " Kilvert country" which includes Clyro , Capel-y-ffin , Llowes , Glasbury , Llanigon , Painscastle , Clifford and Whitney-on-Wye . The settlement's name is first referred to between 1135 and 1147 as Haya ; in 1299 the name of La Haye is used. By the 16th century it was simply called Hay , and the use of the river as a suffix is a later addition. In 1215,

954-441: Is surprised when Mrs Herbert propositions him for sex, and they make love. Mrs Herbert also indicates that her daughter's plan to conceive a child by Mr Neville has been successful. In the evening, while Mr Neville is apparently finishing the final sketch, he is approached by a masked man, obviously Mr Talmann in disguise, who is then joined by the estate manager and Mrs Herbert's former fiancé, Mr Noyes, her neighbour Mr Seymour, and

1007-533: Is within the Hay Urban parish . Hay Rural parish was created from the rural part of the parish of Hay, and includes another Norman castle called Llanthomas Castle Mound . It is on the same lane as the Hay Festival fields (Dairy Meadows). D. J. Cathcart King’s list of UK castles, names Hay Castle as Hay No. 1, Hay Tump as Hay No. 2 and Llanthomas Castle Mound as Hay No. 3. Hay Castle initially took

1060-713: Is within the north-easternmost tip of the Brecon Beacons National Park , just north of the Black Mountains . The town is just on the Welsh side of the border with Herefordshire , England , here defined by the Dulas Brook. Where the brook joins the River Wye just north of the town, the border continues northwards along the river. The Wye was the boundary between the former counties and districts of Radnorshire and Brecknockshire . The adjacent parish of Cusop lies on

1113-456: The Borough of Brecknock in the new county of Powys . The former urban district council's functions therefore passed to Brecknock Borough Council, which was in turn abolished in 1996 and its functions passed to Powys County Council. The Hay Rural parish also became a community in 1974, but was abolished in 1986 and its area absorbed into the neighbouring parish of Llanigon. The B4350 runs through

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1166-635: The Grand Prix of the Belgian Film Critics Association . Mr Neville, a young and conceited artist, is contracted by Mrs Virginia Herbert to produce a series of twelve landscape drawings of her country house, its outbuildings and gardens, as a gift for her cold and neglectful husband, who is currently away on business. Part of the contract is that Mrs Herbert agrees to comply with Mr Neville's sexual demands. Several sexual encounters between them follow, each indicating reluctance or distress on

1219-489: The Local Government Act 1894 . The 1894 Act also directed that parishes were no longer allowed to straddle district boundaries, and so the parish of Hay was split into a Hay Urban parish covering the same area as the urban district, and a Hay Rural parish covering the part of the old parish outside the urban district. Hay Urban District was abolished in 1974, with its area instead becoming a community called Hay within

1272-485: The community is Hay rather than Hay-on-Wye. In 1947 the General Post Office changed the name of the postal locality from Hay to Hay-on-Wye. The change of postal address did not change the name of the urban district which then covered the town, which retained the name Hay and was subsequently converted into a community called Hay in 1974. The village of Llanigon is about 2 miles (3.2 km) south-west of

1325-518: The conquest . Around 1121, a motte and bailey castle was built near St. Mary's. It is thought to have been built by William Revel. The castle remains are known as Hay Tump. The church of St Mary's was built in 1135 and took over the role of the principle church and parish for the area. St. Mary's is near Login Brook and the River Wye . The main part of the town was subsequently developed on

1378-467: The marcher lord Bernard de Neufmarché . He divided Brycheiniog into smaller lordships which were gifted to the knights who contributed to the conquest. The Llanthomas lordship (in Llanigon) was part of the Hay lordship owned by William Revel, one of Bernard 's knights. Motte and bailey castle construction typically occurred soon after a lordship was allocated to a knight. Hay-on-Wye grew after

1431-411: The 'living statue' in the garden and why Mr Neville attached so many conditions to his contract were also more developed in the first version. Groombridge Place was the main shooting location. Michael Nyman 's score is derived from grounds by Henry Purcell overlaid with new melodies, while one of the recurring tracks, apparently excluded from the film's soundtrack, is at least partly derived from

1484-477: The 1970s Hay had gained the nickname "The Town of Books". Since 1988, the Hay Festival based in Hay-on-Wye has been the venue for an annual literary festival , now sponsored by The Daily Telegraph newspaper, which draws a claimed 80,000 visitors over ten days at the end of May or beginning of June to see and hear big literary names from all over the world. Devised by Norman, Rhoda and Peter Florence in 1988,

1537-548: The English side of the Dulas Brook, with parts of the urban area of Hay now crossing the border into the parish of Cusop. The nearest city is Hereford , county town of Herefordshire, some 22 miles (35 km) to the east. Hereford serves as the post town for Hay, so that its official postal address is "Hay-on-Wye, Hereford", despite Hay being in Wales and Hereford in England. Hay-on-Wye

1590-513: The National Book Town of Wales and the site of the annual Hay Festival . The community had a population of 1,675 at the 2021 census . The town is twinned with Redu , a village in the Belgian municipality of Libin , and with Timbuktu , Mali , West Africa. Hay-on-Wye was named one of the best places to live in Wales in 2017. The town lies on the south-east bank of the River Wye and

1643-485: The Poulenc twins, eccentric local landowners. The party accuses Mr Neville of the murder of Mr Herbert, for the drawings can be interpreted to suggest more than one illegal act and to implicate more than one person. They also accuse him of the sexual violation of Mrs Herbert, as evidenced by his sexual congress with her that afternoon. Neville realises, too late, that he has been entrapped by Mrs Herbert. Despite his protests,

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1696-574: The academy and into people's lives." In 2013, Hay-on-Wye had 145 Listed Building entries, all are Grade II listed apart from Hay Castle which is Grade 1 listed. Other listed building include St Mary's parish church , Dulas Bridge (Newport St), St John's chapel, Ebenezer United Reformed Church(now the Globe), the Swan Hotel(Church St), , Harley’s Almshouses (4 Brecon Rd), Post Office (3 High Town), Ashbrook House (1 Brecon Rd) and part of

1749-408: The characters speak in complete, elegant, literary sentences. All of the camera strategies are formal and mannered. The movie advances with the grace and precision of a well-behaved novel." In Slant , a mildly positive Jeremiah Kipp called it "a first, fledgling attempt at what he later perfected, but that modesty could be seen as a virtue, since there is indeed some form of narrative here instead of

1802-437: The estate in their hands, they needed an heir. Because Mr Talmann was impotent, they used Mr Neville as a stud. Mr Herbert was murdered at the site where Mr Neville is murdered. (In the original treatment, Mr Herbert is murdered on his return on the 12th day and the site was vetoed as a painting site, because it was instead to be used as a murder site.) The film was inspired when Greenaway, who trained as an artist before becoming

1855-478: The festival was described by Bill Clinton in 2001 as "The Woodstock of the mind". Tony Benn said: "In my mind it's replaced Christmas". In late July 2021, co-founder and director Peter Florence resigned as Festival Director. There are two tiers of local government covering Hay, at community (town) and county level: Hay Town Council and Powys County Council . The town council is based at offices on Brecon Road. For elections to Powys County Council, there

1908-457: The film are paintings by Caravaggio , de La Tour , Rembrandt , Vermeer and other Baroque artists and this gives the film a "painterly quality". Greenaway also said: "I consider that 90% of my films one way or another refers to paintings. "Contract" quite openly refers to Caravaggio, Georges de La Tour and other French and Italian artists". The Draughtsman's Contract has a 97% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 31 reviews, with

1961-518: The film is a form of murder mystery , set in rural Wiltshire , England in 1694 (during the joint reign of William III and Mary II ). The period setting is reflected in Michael Nyman 's score , which borrows widely from Henry Purcell , and in the extensive and elaborate costume designs (which, for effect, slightly exaggerate those of the period). The action was shot on location in the house and formal gardens of Groombridge Place . The film received

2014-618: The form of an earth ringwork with a stone gate-tower . It was re-enforced in stone around 1200 with a curtain wall . The castle was damaged during the Welsh rebellion led by Owain Glyndŵr around 1401 and again in 1460 during the Wars of the Roses . It was then substantially expanded in the 17th century, creating a Jacobean mansion. Hay Castle has recently been restored to its former glory. Hay-on-Wye

2067-419: The group of men blind him and beat him to death, finally casting his body into the moat at the place where Mr Herbert's corpse was found. Although there is a murder mystery, its resolution is not explicit; it is implied that the mother (Mrs Herbert) and daughter (Mrs Talmann) planned the murder of Mr Herbert. Mrs Herbert and Mrs Talmann were aided by Mr Clarke, the gardener, and his assistant. In order to keep

2120-624: The home of Henry Allen Junior. Hay-on-Wye has a Victorian clock tower which was completed in 1884. On 1 April 1977, bibliophile Richard Booth conceived a publicity stunt in which he declared Hay-on-Wye to be an 'independent kingdom' with himself as its monarch and a National Anthem written by Les Penning . The tongue-in-cheek micronation of Hay-on-Wye has subsequently developed a healthy tourism industry based on literary interests for which some credit Booth. In 2005, Booth announced plans to sell his bookshop and move to Germany ; on this occasion, local Member of Parliament , Roger Williams ,

2173-465: The nonlinear, compulsive list-making and categorization that drives some people crazy about his other films. [...] The story marches forward like a death march and is resolved with merciless efficiency." Danny Peary wrote that "Greenaway handles everything with such elegance that we are totally unprepared for the final act of cruelty. Ending is haunting; it makes you reassess all that went before – supposed victims are really heartless predators." The film

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2226-593: The part of Mrs Herbert, and sexual aggression or insensitivity on the part of Mr Neville. During his stay, Mr Neville becomes disliked by several of the estate's inhabitants and visitors, especially by Mrs Herbert's German son-in-law, Mr Talmann. Eventually Mrs Herbert, wearied by Mr Neville's excessive sexual appetite, tries to terminate the contract before the drawings are completed. But Neville refuses and their encounters continue as before. Then Mrs Herbert's married but childless daughter, Mrs Talmann, frustrated by her husband's lack of interest in sex, blackmails Neville into

2279-459: The second movement of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 's Violin Sonata in E Minor, K. 304. The original plan was to use one ground for every two of the twelve drawings but Nyman states in the liner notes that this was unworkable. The ground for one of the most popular pieces, "An Eye for Optical Theory", is considered to be probably composed by William Croft , a contemporary of Purcell. The goal was to create

2332-473: The series is Goltzius and the Pelican Company . An associated work by the same director is the documentary film Rembrandt's J'Accuse (2008), in which Greenaway addresses 34 "mysteries" associated with the painting, illustrated by scenes from the drama. The film is centred on the creation of The Night Watch , Rembrandt's most famous work, depicting civilian militiamen who wanted to be celebrated in

2385-568: The town and the B4351 links it with the main A438 from Brecon to Hereford , on the far side of the River Wye. The town has a road/pedestrian bridge spanning the River Wye linking Clyro with Hay-on-Wye. The town was formerly served by train services at Hay-on-Wye railway station on the Hereford, Hay and Brecon line. On a stormy night in 1880, a goods train on the way to Brecon was derailed and destroyed

2438-515: The town of Hay-on-Wye. Before the Norman conquest Hay-on-Wye was part of the parish of Llanigon. The church of St. Eigon in Llanigon was the principal church for the area. This was because the settlement in Llanigon predated the settlement in Hay-on-Wye. Brycheiniog (now Wales) was conquered between 1088 and 1095 following the second Norman invasion of Wales . The Norman invaders were led by

2491-543: The town wall, as well as many of the town centre inns and shops. The Butter Market was commissioned by William Enoch and erected in the form of a Doric temple in 1833. the Cheese Market was commissioned by Sir Joseph Bailey, 1st Baronet and completed in 1835. The Butter Market and the Cheese Market had an arcaded ground floor to sell butter and cheese and dairy products, respectively. From 1925, Roman Catholic Mass

2544-531: The town was administered by officials appointed by the lord of the manor . Any residual claim Hay may have had to be called a borough was extinguished under the Municipal Corporations Act 1883 . In 1864 the north-eastern part of the parish of Hay, covering the built-up area as it then was and some adjacent areas, was made a local government district , administered by an elected local board. Such districts were reconstituted as urban districts under

2597-399: Was about 30 minutes long and showed each character talking, at least once, with every other character. Possibly to make the film easier to watch, Greenaway edited it to 103 minutes. The opening scene is now about 10 minutes long and no longer shows all the interactions among all of the characters. Some anomalies in the longer version film are deliberate anachronisms: the depiction of the use of

2650-459: Was celebrated in the hired assembly room over the Cheese Market . Since the 1960's, Mass has been celebrated in St. Joseph's RC Church . The first-floor assembly room has now been renovated to serve as holiday accommodation. On the end wall is a sculpture of Henry Tudor (Henry VII). Oakfield is a Grade II listed Regency house located south of the town centre: built in about 1820, it was recorded in 1842 as

2703-483: Was divided between two manors , known as an Englishry (i.e. English Hay or Haya Anglicana) and a Welshery (i.e. Welsh Hay or Haya Wallensis). The Englishry was within the fortified town of Hay. The Welshry was outside the fortified town, including some rural land, the village of Llanigon and the hamlet of Glynfach. In 1894, Hay Urban parish was created from part of the Hay Urban District, Hay Tump

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2756-618: Was issued on compact disc in 1989 by Virgin Records , marketed in the United States by Caroline Records under their Blue Plate imprint . Initially this was indicated with a sticker; it was later incorporated into the back cover design in a much smaller size. The entire album has been rerecorded by the current lineup of the Michael Nyman Band. See The Composer's Cut Series Vol. I: The Draughtsman's Contract . The visual references for

2809-558: Was originally shot on Super 16mm film then blown up to 35mm for cinema releases. In 2003 the BFI restored the film digitally and this restoration was released on DVD. Umbrella Entertainment released the digitally restored film on DVD in Australia, with special features including an introduction and commentary by Peter Greenaway, an interview with composer Michael Nyman, behind the scenes footage and on set interviews, deleted scenes, trailers and

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