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A beautifully written and acted drama and yet a highly intellectual film, The Draughtsman's Contract combines the English tradition of film making with a murder story set in the 1690's.
At the end of the seventeenth century a time of peace and imperial consolidation lay ahead of England, and the gentry now would build grand mansions , plant parks and gardens, and patronise the Arts—then employ painters to record its wealth and possessions.
Visiting the large estate of Mr. Herbert, at Compton Anstey, the young draughtsman, Mr. Neville, is persuaded to sign a contract which offers him the freedom of Mrs. Herbert's person for the prize of twelve drawings of house and gardens. His obsession with detail and truthfulness soon leads him deep into a domestic intrigue which makes him look suspect in more than one sense.