Ben Wheatley, who had earlier gained fame with Down Terrace, Kill List and Sightseers, has chosen a psychedelic path for his fourth film, making it a blend of comedy and horror that is as bizarre and crazy as an extremely violent LSD trip. Indeed it is the first of its kind, with the movie hitting screens on DVD, free TV as well as Video-on-Demand simultaneously in UK.
A Field in England takes place during the English Civil War and follows Whitehead (Reece Shearsmith of “The League of Gentlemen”), a cowardly man trying to find an alchemist called O’Neil. Beginning with Whitehead hiding in a thicket bush; he then saves himself by hooking up with two imbeciles in search of booze and Cutler who is just mysterious from word go.
Some Essex jokes are cracked, debates about how bad stoat meat tastes or how to hang someone with no trees start. However things go terribly wrong after they eat a pan full of magic mushrooms; trip their balls off (almost literally, shown in one sequence) before finally facing O’Neil. What follows is a convoluted narrative involving lost treasure, nightmarish hallucinations and terrible murder scenes. Sometimes it even seems like Wheatley and screenwriter Amy Jump will not take time to explain anything but let your imagination do all the work by taking away most of what can terrify you.
This makes A Field In England perhaps their least accessible film yet but also their bravest when there are times such as these where it comes alive and grips you by the throat. One scene plays out like this: an intense shootout alongside another which leaves Whitehead attached to a rope that goes deep into his mouth. Yet there are long stretches in which the picture itself appears equally aimless compared to its characters whose story often slows down too much when you want nothing more than for it to crank up another notch.
Thus, the visuals are striking as the entire film is shot in a harsh black and white with lensing by Laurie Rose that evokes the unforgiving British countryside (making it an ideal twin to Sightseers mentioned above). Also, many tableaux increase the level of abstractness. Moreover, these soundtracks and music make this film to be more like a real horror than anything else bearing in mind that they mix shocking ambient sounds with folk songs sung in such a way as to distress even The Wicker Man.
However, while it may look and sound great on paper, A Field very often feels like an ordeal with a slow pace frustratingly creeping into proceedings towards its last third. Wheatley certainly knows how to construct atmosphere and tension but here he fails to sustain them for the duration of his movie.
The blame, however, cannot be placed on any of his cast members; Michael Smiley gives O’Neil a truly terrifying presence while Reece Shearsmith delivers his own powerful characterisation of Whitehead who is deeply flawed and completely out of depth. This film doesn’t quite pay off, but that does not mean it is a bad movie. It is brave because it tells a story on religious, political and economic issues in a manner that avoids falling into the typical formulas of storytelling. In short, however, the sum of the parts isn’t all there; A trip filled with as many downs as ups, but one whose weirdness will nevertheless haunt your memory long after the credits have finished rolling.
Verdict
His films always ask hard questions without presenting them in simple ways; nevertheless, A Field in England stands unrivaled by any other in this regard; an unyielding take on the civil war that’s enjoyable to watch but also irritating and confusing to equal ends.
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