Screenplay – Enda Walsh, Producers – Charlotte Bavasso & Christopher O’Reilly, Music – Gustavo Santolalla, Visual Effects Supervisor – German Diez, Production Design – Alexandra Walker. Production Company – Nexus Studios.
i. And Heard Within. A Lie is Spun
Crew
Directors/Story – Emma de Swaef & Marc James Roels, Photography – Malcolm Hadley, Director of Animation – Tobias Fouracre.
Voices
Mia Goth (Mabel), Matthew Goode (Raymond), Claudie Blakley (Penny), Mark Heap (Mr Thomas), Joshua McGuire (Georgie), Stephanie Cole (Great Aunt Eleanor), Miranda Richardson (Aunt Clarice), David Peacock (Uncle Lucien), Barney Pilling (Van Schoonbeek)
ii. Then Lost is Truth That Can’t Be Won
Crew
Director – Nikki Lindroth von Bahr, Story – Johannes Nyholm & Nikki Lindroth von Bahr, Photography – James Lewis, Director of Animation – Chris Tichborne.
Voices
Jarvis Cocker (Developer), Sven Wolter (Odd Man), Yvonne Lombard (Odd Woman)
iii. Listen Again and Seek the Sun
Crew
Director/Story – Paloma Baeza, Photography – James Lewis, Director of Animation – Chris Tichborne.
Cast
Susan Wokoma (Rosa), Helena Bonham Carter (Jen), Paul Kaye (Cosmos), Will Sharpe (Elias)
Plot
i. And Heard Within. A Lie is Spun:- Mabel and her family live in the countryside. One day they receive a visit from Mr Thomas who says that Mr Van Schoonbeek has decided to build them a house – all of this is free, the only condition being that they have to relinquish the house they are living in. They agree and find that a mansion has been built for them. After they move in, Mabel finds strange things – that their old house has been demolished and that the current one is in a state of constant reconstruction, while the fireplace in the new house will only burn if they place their old furniture into it. ii. Then Lost is Truth That Can’t Be Won:- A rat home-owner is trying to ready the house for sale. An open home is held but afterwards he finds that two of the prospective buyers have moved in and made themselves at home. iii. Listen Again and Seek the Sun:- Rosa maintains an apartment building in the house on a small island but is dealing with dilapidated structure and flood waters that are rising, while none of her tenants are paying her the rent money she needs for repairs.
The House was a production from British-based Nexus Studios, which specialises in animation, having worked in music video and won multiple awards for their commercials. The House was their first feature film and was intended as an Anthology of Stop-Motion Animated shorts. The film says that it tells the story of the life of a house in different periods, although other than featuring a house there is no connection between the segments – the houses are even quite different in style from countryside mansions to regular suburban homes.
The film opens with the And Heard Within. A Lie is Spun segment from Belgian duo Emma de Swaef and Marc James Roels who had previously made other short films that have won awards. This is the finest of the trio of stories (and the only one to feature human characters). The animation is of figures made with what look like rough cloth or wool given life. The characters often have minimal features – little more than a pair of eyes – but the animation gives them an extraordinary and often plaintive expression. This is also an episode with quite a dark undertow as we see things through the eyes of the daughter – this is certainly not kiddie animation – and a story that reaches quite a nasty sting.
The family are introduced to the new house in the And Heard Within. A Lie is Spun episodeThe self-invited house guests in the Then Lost is Truth That Can’t Be Won episode
The second episode Then Lost is Truth That Can’t Be Won from Swedish director Nikki Lindroth von Bahr is completely different in tone and ventures away from the quasi-anthropomorphic realism of the first segment to become a Talking Animals story. This is the tale of a rat who it appears is in the process of organising his house for an open home showing. Things take a turn for the Ionescu-esque as two elongated creatures of unidentified species move in, go to sleep in the bedroom, start taking baths and requesting cups of tea. The piece becomes increasingly more surreal before an ending where the creatures return to their animal nature. Lurking somewhere beneath seems to be a satire on property flippers that then turns into a savage Lord of the Flies (1954)-type scenario.
The third episode Listen Again and Seek the Sun comes from the British-Mexican Paloma Baeza, who has a number of credits as an actress as well as having directed several shorts. This is also a taking animals episode but in less of an absurdist vein. It is an episode you could easily imagine being conducted with live-action actors as a quirky whimsy of offbeat characters surrounding the longsuffering landlady, before the gently apocalyptic ending where the house is turned into a sailing ship to set sail in a drowned world.
