A Field in England

Name of Director: WHEATley, real name of central actor: SHEARSmith, real name of actor playing evil character: SMILEY. Geddit!!! Oh so droll, this film is so up its own backside you really do have to wonder how this self-indulgent 'trip' got so much publicity. After all, it only took 12 days to produce and pence to fund. Shearsmith is such an expert at playing grotesque and left-field characters though that it is through him that you begin to understand what is going on here. In fact, his performance is a dream. (Geddit - oh, do keep up folks). This is in fact a clever bit of filmography and I was tempted to make a Peter Greenaway comparison - except, that's wrong too. This is definitely not for everyone but that's not to say its without merit. A strange merit is has indeed.

Last night I caught Ben Wheatley's latest movie and was very pleasantly surprised. As with all of Ben's movies you have to have an intellect to watch it. It is open for some interpretation as to what the film was about. For me it was classic British cinema. It was not an easy movie to watch. A group of people go out field in England and unbeknownst to them drop acid. Yeah there are some mushrooms you can take that can alter your perceptions. Shot in Black and White, with a superb soundtrack, this makes England seem alien and horrifying. I must buy the blu ray of this so I can listen to the directors commentary. Some of the shots are breath taking. In summation I would say this movie is a creation that will divide people. The ones who have been spoon fed by Hollywood will not understand it and as such hate it as they fear it. The rest of us can watch a movie that does not pander to the viewer and credits them with intelligence. The best British movie this year.

I was really looking forward to seeing this and nearly preordered the Blu Ray having read about it. The plot sounded very interesting, a group of soldiers in a field come across the devil, wow I thought, this sounds like some forgotten Tigon classic! Then I saw it was being broadcast on TV simultaneously with it's DVD/Blu Ray and cinema release, so held back, and I am so glad I did. What you have here is something that resembles a college project with no plot line, 'arty' black and white cinematography, it's basically a complete mess. I'm pretty sure the director and film company are regretting they let people see this before they had ordered the physical product, because I bet it has really affected sales,and I don't think it will do the directors future career any favours either.Easily one of the worst films I have ever seen in my 50 years on this planet.

Many people may highly disagree with this sentiment, but I believe 'A Field in England' to be a masterpiece. It is a mind-blowing wartime odyssey that pushes the boundaries of narrative cinema, filled with shocks and surprises at nearly every turn. Experimenting with editing and filmmaking techniques to the point of psychedelic madness, Ben Wheatley crafts one of the most successfully surreal works of cinema I have thus far seen. Everything from the often hilarious writing to the hypnotic score is finely injected with intense talent and, in my opinion, enormous entertainment value. The amount of thrills and laughs in this movie totally subverts the idea that art house cinema is often "boring." This film is so alive and free and refuses to surrender to most cinematic norms, and yet it still follows a coherent narrative with memorable and enjoyable characters and genuine suspense; it nearly reaches the heights of a David Lynch masterpiece in terms of its ability to mix radical experimentation and surrealism with an engaging and cohesive story. Since Lynch is by far my favourite filmmaker, that is high praise. Anyone who is willing to be confused, appalled, and oddly amused owes it to his or herself to see this insane work of cinematic psychedelia.

As I already feel cheated of the hour and a half I've wasted watching this, I will waste no further time on it other than to say if I could have worked out how to give it 0/10 I would have. Quite angry about the Film four hype for such pretentious drivel. The Ben Wheatley interview afterwards was equally annoying, adding insult to injury, and was promptly abandoned. The worst kind of student film, what a waste of finance for British film making. Rubbish...........rubbish...........rubbish...........rubbish...... .......filling the required ten lines now......total rubbish..........film four shame on you........etc.......etc......etc....

Totally agree with the reviewer. I was looking forward to this, especially as it is set in the 1640's/Civil War period. The 10 line minimum for reviews is making me struggle, so I'll try and battle on.. It's not that it's hard to understand, what with the magic mushrooms concept. The story was right for the stage, where the arty brigade could justify it with some intellectual nonsense. I can just see them sloping off home to a bottle of claret and pseudo conversation. When it's seen as it is - self-indulgent, they may come to their senses. It must have cost about a fiver to make. I stuck with it manfully for 50 minutes before hitting the off button. Boring crap!

A Field in England I have never reviewed a film before this short offering, but following, to the bitter end this film, I was moved to write a very brief review. A sad gratuitous romp in monochrome through a few fields portraying men as reprehensible animals discussing disjointed themes under the guise of English Civil war survivors. If the aim of this film was engender depression and a deep sense of sadness, then this film was probably successful In essence, life is simply far too short to waste time by watching this film

This came with a fair bit of hype being directed by Ben Wheatley who made KILL LIST that gained a cult following and due to being released on multiple platforms ie released at selected cinemas , Blue-ray , DVD and broadcast on Film4 all on the same day . With hindsight the people who didn't pay to watch this film are luckier than the ones who did and anyone who hasn't seen this pretentious pile of horse manure is luckier than anyone who has Critics who saw preview copies of FIELD were very vague about the plot . That is because the film has no plot . Some deserters from the English Civil War team up , walk through some fields , take magic mushrooms and shoot each other . Anyone expecting something along the lines of WITCHFINDER GENERAL will be disappointed because this is like a bad episode of Monty Python without the surreal jokes crossed with Tarkovsky It's a case of style over substance , not so much substance abuse but plenty of style abuse . Wheatley realises there's no story to the screenplay so wastes his celluloid and the audiences time by showing off every directorial technique he learned at film school . If he's trying to emulate the brooding atmosphere of Nicolas Winding Refn's VALHALLA RISING then he's failed because this is Valhalla sinking . Sinking in to a big cesspit filled with pretentious poo The critics who did see it before the general public did lavish praise upon it and is a classic example that the emperor is naked . It is a film of incomprehensible storytelling that has no plot and makes very little sense . If it was made by a bunch of film students it wouldn't receive a distributor and the only reason it received any type of publicity is because it was directed by the fashionable and overrated Ben Wheatley and the multi platform release . I bet those people who spent money on the DVD are feeling embarrassed about it now

A Field in England is most notable for being the first British film to be simultaneously released across every format on the same night. It has been released theatrically, pay-per-view, on DVD and on free television. It's a pretty audacious move and one that I hope works out for the film-makers as it could be a new way for left-field films to get the go-ahead to get made at all. It also reminded me of what it used to be like in the days before video recorders when I was a little kid. Whenever a movie came on TV it was a cultural event as a large percentage of the population sat down to watch it at the same time – we couldn't record it to watch it later or pause it to go and make a cup of tea we simply had to make time for it at the given moment and watch. I obviously wouldn't swap the flexibility we have nowadays but there was something to be said for sharing a movie at the same time as millions of others. And in a sense, the simultaneous cinema and TV release of A Field in England brings back this scenario and for that I am quite thankful. The film itself? Well, it's a quite difficult one to accurately judge on a single viewing, as it was pretty confusing on the whole. Director Ben Wheatley said that he wanted to transport the viewer into the world of Civil War England with little exposition to explain what was going on. He wanted us to enter a world where the characters do things that would be second nature to them without actually explaining to us why they were doing them. It's a reasonable enough idea as events in the film appear somewhat surreal as a result. Having said that, I think it's obvious that the story is bizarre regardless of this. It involves an alchemist's assistant and some soldiers fleeing a battle and meeting an ominous cavalier in a field. The latter is looking for some unspecified treasure and he uses these men to find it. Throw in some magic mushrooms to complicate matters and you have one very weird movie. I'm not 100% certain what to make of it on one viewing. It frustrated me a bit I have to admit, as it didn't necessarily make the most of the sinister possibilities inherent in its storyline. And by the end I really wasn't all that sure what had just happened. But it did intrigue me a little and I would be interested in returning to it at some later point. The cinematography was very good at times, while the soundtrack had an interesting mix of medieval drums, folk and ambient electronica. Acting was good enough with Reece Shearsmith of The League of Gentlemen always a welcome presence, while Michael Smiley was good as the cavalier. I'm not entirely convinced by A Field in England at the minute but I feel like unique films of this type should at least be encouraged in the UK so for that reason I am going to cut it some slack.