Peter Greenaway - Coast Line / The Sea in Their Blood (1983)

"Sea bathing was originally recommended as a winter rather than as a summer occupation. Cold water was preferred to warm - the saltier the better, and nude bathing was normal. The Victorians popularised the habit. Going to the seaside became an event. Thousands of workers in the railway towns were given an annual day trip by train, leaving their hometowns empty and deserted. Daytrippers like these started the seaside souvenir business, wanting something small and inexpensive to remind them of their day beside the sea. Souvenirs could always be bought on the pier - painted shells, figures of Neptune, rock, stuffed fish, cuttlebone for canaries, glass crabs, bottles of coloured sand, miniature boats, ceramic mermaids, dried seahorses, pressed seaweed, black jet, golden amber, bottled ships, sailor hats, and models of the pier in brittle toffee." The British coast line presented in the dry, witty, heavily considered and ever inventive cinematic form of Peter Greenaway. Music by Michael Nyman. Narrated by Colin Cantlie.