26 Bathrooms From the Other Side

Alphabet rooms spoilers herein.  How strange talent is.  Even ordinary, old [Peter] Greenaway is superior to most of what else one encounters. This film employs all the Greenaway signatures minus one.  Here we have moving water, casual nudity, numeric or alphabetical (here the latter) organization, and a [Peter] Nyman score.  Along the way, one gets a brief tour of a mildly naturalistic philosophy and some rather lovely images. What’s missing is his usual esoteric symbolism within a mystical notion of order. This latter piece is what makes him a potentially lifealtering filmmaker. Without that all one can do is charm, which this does. (Source)

It’s delightful.  It’s delicious. It’s eccentric.  26 Bathrooms, by Peter Greenaway, is dated and references a decade that is often parodied but rarely appreciated. Watch the Ellen Show any day and you’ll be reminded why when you see the photos that are shared. Most people who were alive then have long since forgotten the mindset, habits, interests and world view that people had at the time. (Save for people with acute powers of observation and good memories, or detailed diaries.) We’re so much more chic and sleek these days, but are we more fabulous?

If you hoard interior interior design books such as  Sensual Living and The Art of the Bath, or enjoy buying coffee table tomes dedicated to all things house and home, you will adore Peter Greenaway’s 26 Bathrooms.  Lucky you – there is a copy of it online.

Brew a pot  of tea, find a cozy chair, sit back and enjoy a trip to the other side of the year 2000.

Oh and by the way – which bathroom is your favourite and why?

Related

26 Bathrooms on Peter Greenaway website

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(This is a rework of a previous post. Just in case you missed it, it seemed to be the right thing to do to share it again.)

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