Title: A Field In England
Cert: 15
Release Date: Friday 5th of July
“Open up and let the Devil in.” Ben Wheatley‘s surreally horrific, civil war era comedy ‘A Field in England‘ was released last Friday in cinemas, on TV, and on DVD. We took a look to see what 17th century rural England was really like, and it was super weird.
First off we have to say that there was a simple fact that disappointed us. In all the gumpf that we read surrounding the film, the PR teams kept on mentioning Julian Barratt. His name even comes first in the credits. And yet Mr. Boosh is killed in the first thirty seconds and is never heard of again. If you’re watching this film just because you’re a Barratt fan then you’re going to have a bad time.
Past this little foible though, the film is very good. It centres around Whitehead (Reece Shearsmith), a gentleman’s assistant sent out to arrest the alchemist O’Niel, played by Michael Smiley, and retrieve the documents that he stole. Unfortunately however, there is a war going on and the intellectual pacifist soon gets separated from his guard. Stumbling upon some deserters, they all decide to do the proper thing and run away; Or as they put it “We’re not running away, we’re going to get beer!”
In a turn of tide, the group do come across O’Niel, who quickly captures them all and puts them to work digging for treasure. From here on in, it’s a struggle of power and morals in a fusion of old world superstition and magic mushrooms. The men must realise who they are, what they can be, and what they must do in a whip of spirit, friendship, and madness. All set in a single field in the English countryside.
The writing of Amy Jump‘s script is brilliant. Separated by odd portrait-esque moments in time, each section of the story has it’s own unique feel, despite it all being set in a field. It also has some cracking lines; As one of the men says “It does not surprise me that Satan is an Irish man“. The relationships between characters bounds from sobbing at their deaths to wishing they were dead. And all of this happening within a field in an hour and a half.
Editing is also used to full effect. Credit which again goes to Miss Jump, this time with Wheatley also. As our heroes trip out on their mushrooms and magic, the images reflect it in a sensory overload of sound and vision. Mirrors, rewinds, super imposing, flash cutting. The film does come with a very strong epilepsy warning and this is why. Unbelievably insane and amazing to watch.
A largely entertaining film, the latest of Wheatley’s is not the usual. It’s so much better while being bizarre and crazy at the same time. A definite must watch if not only because it’s available everywhere. Watch this film now. It’s visuals will blow your mind, possibly quite literally. Watch “A Field In England’ on demand here.
8/10
