A Field in England, 2013.
Directed by Ben Wheatley.
Starring Reece Shearsmith, Michael Smiley, Peter Ferdinando, Ryan Pope and Richard Glover.
SYNOPSIS:
Three Civil War deserters are forced to search for treasure in an English field.
A Field in England isn’t really a film, it’s a sensory and nightmarish overload. On the final credits’ roll, you’ll remain rooted in your seat, most likely confused, feeling like your brain’s just been taken out back and had a countless number of unspeakable things done to it.
The story, for what it’s worth, is about three Civil War deserters (which places the film in the 17th Century) who are forced to search for treasure. Well, at least on one level it’s about that. It’s also about the cyclical nature of life, mind-expanding mushroom trips and dark magic. And probably a whole lot more besides.
This is far more experimental than Ben Wheatley’s last film, Sightseers. Although immensely dark, that movie’s comedy anchoring never let Wheatley soar to the demented heights where he flies freest.
A Field in England is completely without any such genre weight. Some scenes seem specifically shot to emphasise that feeling, that there is no Earthly tether connecting this film to anything. Sometimes the framing is upside down, and there’s a reoccurring appearance of a vast black circle eating the sky.
It surpasses Wheatley’s previous masterpiece, Kill List, in bounds. Whereas that at least stuck to a standard visual language, A Field in England uses a number of alienation effects. Randomly, and without explanation, the action ceases in favour of a tableau, where the principal actors freeze in almost painterly poses.
To complicate this further, characters often look directly at the camera. It’s uncomfortable, like they’re pleading for help. You feel revealed as a voyeur, watching this horrible torture without doing anything to aid their plight.
The film’s peak, however, is a five-minute long strobing montage of such visual mastery and daring you can do nothing but sit mouth agape and ward off bouts of epilepsy. Such scenes are rare in narrative cinema and recalls the mind-bending celestial journey of 2001: A Space Odyssey. Though arguably on even more mushrooms.
Yet despite all its narrative and visual experimentation, A Field in England is essentially a character piece. Our three heroes, Jacob (Peter Fernando), Friend (Richard Glover) and Whitehead, all undergo significant development. A grumpy bastard to a man who cries for his friends. An idiot to one with a devious past. And a coward to a hero.
It’s open, ambiguous, deeply psychological and amongst the most faithful representations of experiencing a feature-length nightmare in narrative cinema.
Flickering Myth Rating: Film ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie ★ ★
Oliver Davis is one of Flickering Myth’s co-editors. You can follow him on Twitter @OliDavis.
Originally published July 5, 2013. Updated November 28, 2022.
