"A Field In England" Film Review

Authors Avatar by 003212 (student)

A Field In England, Joe Moorcroft

Set in England in the 17th century, a small group of deserters flee from a raging battle through an overgrown field. Two men capture them: O'Neil and Cutler. O'Neil, an alchemist, forces the group to aid him in his search to find a hidden treasure that he believes is buried in the field. Crossing a vast mushroom circle, which provides their first meal and psychedelic and hallucinogenic properties, the group quickly descend into a chaos of arguments, fighting and paranoia, and, as it becomes clear that the treasure might be something other than gold, they slowly become victim to the terrifying energies trapped inside the field.

The film is described as a monochrome-psychedelic breakdown, taking place somewhere in the West Country during the civil war in England in the 17th century. The film A Field in England is driven in terms of narrative by clear discomfort. O'Neil is scary and commanding, while Whitehead is hilariously submissive, even after making out he is more knowledgeable than he actually is.

It’s an incredibly complex film at times, while also harshly direct and realistic in the ways Ben Wheatley’s movie always tend to be. He shoots in black and white, mixing his usual handheld realism with odd additions like stills and well-preformed and captivating hallucination sequences.

Join now!

The film is philosophically evocative and the narrative is so complex it is captivating to see if you can work it out. It has driven blasts of psychological torment and graphic violence. That just also makes it a film that will appeal to an even smaller audience than his previous work; there is a use of strong British actors to help appeal to audiences in which they are familiar to, to counterbalance this complexity.

Smiley’s acting shows him as commanding and disturbing, proving a terrifyingly powerful figure who could believably command four men through pure mental and physical ...

This is a preview of the whole essay