Help me ID a short British film from the 70s/80s
07-30-14, 02:07 PM
#1
DVD Talk Special Edition
Thread Starter
Help me ID a short British film from the 70s/80s
I'm sure some of you are old enough to remember, but back in the late 70s and early 80s, HBO would run music videos and\or short films between movies. So if a movie ended at 7:37PM and the next one was scheduled to start at 8:00PM, they'd air a bunch of promos for upcoming stuff, a couple music videos, and perhaps short film in the meantime. There's one such film I've been trying to ID for years, and either Google's never heard of it, or my Google-Fu is too weak.
So... yeah. It's a British film. It's about an author who lives in London and develops a bad case of writer's block, mostly due to all the noise in the city. So he rents a room in a quiet village somewhere to work on his book. But shortly after he moves in, he discovers that the elderly lady in the room above him tosses water out the window every few minutes (I don't remember why). So there he is, trying to write, and the sound of the water rushing by his window and hitting the ground is driving him insane. My memory is a bit fuzzy at this point, but IIRC he tries a few things to cut down on the noise (like sticking an umbrella out the window), but he eventually blows up on the poor woman. She dies the next day, and the writer feels guilty about it. The movie ends with him sitting sadly at his typewriter, pouring water from one glass into another trying to replicate the sound.
Does ANYONE remember this? Anyone at all? Or is anyone willing to try their luck with Google? I've been trying to ID this film for years and have struck out every time.
So... yeah. It's a British film. It's about an author who lives in London and develops a bad case of writer's block, mostly due to all the noise in the city. So he rents a room in a quiet village somewhere to work on his book. But shortly after he moves in, he discovers that the elderly lady in the room above him tosses water out the window every few minutes (I don't remember why). So there he is, trying to write, and the sound of the water rushing by his window and hitting the ground is driving him insane. My memory is a bit fuzzy at this point, but IIRC he tries a few things to cut down on the noise (like sticking an umbrella out the window), but he eventually blows up on the poor woman. She dies the next day, and the writer feels guilty about it. The movie ends with him sitting sadly at his typewriter, pouring water from one glass into another trying to replicate the sound.
Does ANYONE remember this? Anyone at all? Or is anyone willing to try their luck with Google? I've been trying to ID this film for years and have struck out every time.
08-01-14, 05:22 PM
#2
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Help me ID a short British film from the 70s/80s
Any rough idea of production date, b&w or colour?
08-02-14, 01:10 PM
#3
DVD Talk Special Edition
Thread Starter
Re: Help me ID a short British film from the 70s/80s
It was absolutely in color. I first saw it in the early 80s, and it didn't seem at all "dated", so I'd guess it was made after 1976.
I googled for it again earlier this week, and it seems that I'm not the only one who remembers it. On this page you can scroll halfway down the page to see a post by "Splinterbrain" (better yet, if you're using Chrome, just search for "water" and it will be result 22 of 36):
Thanks for any help you can offer! 
I googled for it again earlier this week, and it seems that I'm not the only one who remembers it. On this page you can scroll halfway down the page to see a post by "Splinterbrain" (better yet, if you're using Chrome, just search for "water" and it will be result 22 of 36):
I remember a series of short surreal films presented on A&E. I think they were British. Three that come to mind are:
A. A guy walking along a country road going on holiday. He steps in a hole and gets stuck. Someone stops and looks like they will help him out, but takes his coat instead. He spends the night there. In the morn, he lures a cow close enough to drink milk, but a R/C airplane comes along, scares the cow away, hits him in the head, then flies away. He keeps sinking in the hole. Other bad stuff happens to him, too. He sinks completely out of sight except one foot. A bum comes along and steals that remaining shoe and his tape player.
B. A writer has a problem writing because a goofy woman upstairs constantly pours buckets of water out the window onto his porch. He's going nuts. Finally, she dies. But, he then finds he can't write anything without the water being poured out. He hires someone to pour water out the window so he can write.
C. Everyone in the family is armed and suspicious of each other. Seems to be the total culture then. Mom, dat and teen son are always pointing guns at each other threatening to kill. In the end, someone gets shot (don't remember who).
A. A guy walking along a country road going on holiday. He steps in a hole and gets stuck. Someone stops and looks like they will help him out, but takes his coat instead. He spends the night there. In the morn, he lures a cow close enough to drink milk, but a R/C airplane comes along, scares the cow away, hits him in the head, then flies away. He keeps sinking in the hole. Other bad stuff happens to him, too. He sinks completely out of sight except one foot. A bum comes along and steals that remaining shoe and his tape player.
B. A writer has a problem writing because a goofy woman upstairs constantly pours buckets of water out the window onto his porch. He's going nuts. Finally, she dies. But, he then finds he can't write anything without the water being poured out. He hires someone to pour water out the window so he can write.
C. Everyone in the family is armed and suspicious of each other. Seems to be the total culture then. Mom, dat and teen son are always pointing guns at each other threatening to kill. In the end, someone gets shot (don't remember who).
08-02-14, 09:44 PM
#5
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Help me ID a short British film from the 70s/80s
Sorry, but I did my best. It might not be listed at IMDb, or if it is, there's no info included whatsoever.
08-03-14, 06:08 AM
#6
08-04-14, 11:11 AM
#7
DVD Talk Ultimate Edition
Re: Help me ID a short British film from the 70s/80s
I'm pretty much a whiz at Google. I'm sure I can find it for you. What's the title?
