H Is for House

H is for House is another of Peter Greenaway's early pre feature film experimental works. Set in an idyllic location in the English countryside, a mother and her young daughter relax by an old cottage. It is an exercise in editing as much as anything, with many static shots of various things. It does have quite a nice atmosphere about it and is a far warmer film that is usual for Greenaway, probably on account of the tranquil set-up and characters. Aside from the visuals, there is much unusual narration and one of the ideas explored is the artificiality of how we categorise things alphabetically. Many disparate things begin with the letter H for example, and the film considers this absurdity. This kind of obsession is precisely the kind of thing you would expect of Greenaway in fairness, as he has delved into such specific topics on various other occasions. I actually found this to be one of his more enjoyable short avant-garde works though. I suppose the reason for this is that I tend to respond to his visual ideas more favourably than his intellectual ones and in this case the words didn't engulf the imagery as much as usual. So, on the whole, I found this to be an interesting and relaxing left-field short.

"A woman who lived in the country watched and awaited for the approach of the city. She was convinced they would come directly from the north and only in the afternoon..." If you get the chance to see this little film it'll be worth the effort. It's not very demanding, certainly not very intellectual in the usual Peter Greenaway style, but it's diverting enough. Greenaway seems to be in love with the countryside and suspicious of the city. He gives us a compactly edited little montage of all the things he loves about what appears to be his countryside home.

This is a delightful little film. Suddenly we are thrust into a most tranquil location: the pleasant rural English countryside. Apple trees and the birds singing. The director narrates to us a short tale about a naturalist and the title is shown, accompanied by a spurt of music by Vivaldi. The narrator is Colin Cantlie, the familiar voice heard on the other Greenaway films, Water Wrackets, Vertical Features Remake, Dear Phone, A Walk Through H and The Falls. A little girl plays in the garden, while her mother tends to her and other chores. H is for many things. Other letters of the alphabet are narrated. The film concludes with another witty story.

H is for House. Delightful.