As a DVD, The Draughtsman's Contract works well, and not just for the special features, which are plentiful and well thought out.
On a generic level, the cinematography benefits from the heightened picture quality and Michael Nyman's exuberant score is even more spectacular with digital sound.
As well as a director's commentary, which is always useful when the material is as dense as this, the DVD offers much more than a basic package that one might expect from an arthouse flick. Greenaway's introduction is both fascinating and insightful, covering how he got into filmmaking in the first place, as well as his sources of inspiration for The Draughtsman's Contract.
The four deleted scenes add little to the film's narrative, but are interesting, if only to illustrate the extent to which digitally remastering has restored the picture quality - the deleted scenes have not been enhanced and make quite a striking contrast.
There is also a Behind The Scenes feature, enabling you to see what making an art film in the early Eighties was like, as well as interviews with the cast, conducted at the time, another with Nyman about the score and a gallery section. It's almost as if they were planning the extras whilst filming, before CDs, let alone DVDs, had been thought of.
Forty one minutes of special features is not bad for a film made over 20 years ago, but 41 minutes of genuinely interesting special features is a genuine achievement.
Printer-friendly version
