This subtle amalgam of genres firmly placed Greenaway in the rarefied atmosphere of genuinely original British directing talent.

His art school background is given full rein and he was able to utilise a keen cinamatic eye, a sure ear for dialogue and a mischievous grasp of the surreal.

It's the late 17th century and English society is in a state of flux with women getting inheritance rights and the Frenchified court giving way to a Dutch supplanter.

Draughtsman and social outsider Mr Neville (Higgins) is hired to execute 12 drawings of a country estate by the absent owner's wife Mrs Herbert (Suzman).

He's to spend almost two weeks living on estate with full board...but he stipulates the contractual obligations include pre-arranged knee-trembers with his employer.

So what we have is a libidinous Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen flouncing around the estate and slipping off his britches when he's not working on an etching.

Of course, such activity is bound to cause resentment with French aristocrat Mr Talmann (Fraser) and estate manager Mr Noyes (Neil Cunningham), who harbours desires of his own for Mrs Herbert.

And when a corpse is dragged from the moat, the cocky Neville begins to get an inkling that the cushy terms of his employment could disguise a sinister purpose.

Complex and challenging, there are many pleasures on offer here from the bile-soaked dinner table repartee to Michael Nyman's terrific score.

It helps if you can apply a little historical knowledge or some of the funnier moments will remain in-jokes but it works anyway.

As an historical piece it remains timeless and will be remembered as a potent calling card for Greenaway, whose fortunes have wavered since.

Tim Evans