ZED AND TWO NOUGHTS, A (1985)

The always elliptical Peter Greenaway once again creates a beautiful film-as-puzzle. This tale concerns twin zoologist brothers whose wives are killed in a freak car crash involving a rare swan. The brothers form an unusual and strangely close relationship with Alba, the woman who was driving the car, now an amputee. Preoccupied with death and decomposition, the brothers organise elaborate studies on the decomposition of animals, making time-lapse films of dalmatians and zebras to chart the decay. Cue the scurrying hoards of snails and Michael Nyman's thrilling frenetic score. When Alba herself dies, the twins decide to join her in death, and set about filming their own decaying human bodies. Greenaway's fascination with the Dutch painter Vermeer, is evident in A Zed And Two Noughts, particularly in the lighting.