This film is part of Free

A Walk Through H: The Reincarnation of an Ornithologist U rating

Peter Greenaway takes us on a mesmerising journey across mysterious fictional terrains.

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1978 42 mins

Overview

At the moment of his death, an ornithologist embarks on a journey across the disconnected fictional terrains depicted in a set of 92 maps. The film is divided into five sections, each linked to a different avian environment, and bird references abound as images of birds in flight appear more and more frequently. The narration focuses on the provenance of the maps, each an artwork produced by Greenaway himself.

Peter Greenaway’s first BFI-funded short film was his longest to date and began a fruitful relationship which culminated in the 1982 feature film The Draughtsman’s Contract.