A Field in England

[Sam]

It's by no means a bad film but Wheatley has been very hyped so there's an element of backlash.

The most OTT moments (the strobe stuff) just didn't work for me, but the dreamier stuff (Shearsmith on the rope, pulling Irishman out of the circle) were fantastic.

I bet that Shearsmith rope scene will  become iconic, be in talking head clip shows etc. It's his 'Exorcist levitating' moment. All very self concious, but bravura stuff nonetheless.

[holyzombiejesus]

I think Reece Shearsmith is great but I do like that whatever he's in, he always brings a tiny bit of Geoff Tibbs with him.

[The Roofdog]

You like that? I'm a big LoG fan but seeing them in anything else tends to bring me out of the story, I don't think any of them are great straight actors to be honest. Pemberton is probably the worst though, Shearsmith and Gatiss do seem to be getting better.

[El Unicornio, mang]

Oh, one thing I could have done without: that one close-up shot of the bloke's tadger when Whitehead was inspecting it. Especially when it's in hi def.

[Blumf]

Oh, one thing I could have done without: that one close-up shot of the bloke's tadger when Whitehead was inspecting it. Especially when it's in hi def.

We'll get you this for your birthday:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Crying-Game-Anniversary-Edition/dp/B006C196UG

1080p!

[Noodle Lizard]

Oh, one thing I could have done without: that one close-up shot of the bloke's tadger when Whitehead was inspecting it. Especially when it's in hi def.

It's art.

Nah mate.  I liked the bit just after when that other bloke done a wee on people out his cock and you saw it and everything.

[Noodle Lizard]

Has anyone else wondered why Julian Barratt was in it?  That 30 second role didn't really require an established, experienced actor and it just felt odd.  Was it just to have a big(ish) name attached?  I can only hope he did it for £5.

[checkoutgirl]

Fuckin' hell. Look at that extrapolation. Christ. That's what I took from it. Take my opinion with heaping grains of salt.

No I think you're pretty much bang on.

Spoiler alert

Blokes desert battle field for various reasons, one of them is O'Neills man. They are led to the mushroom circle by O'Neill's man and they pull O'Neill out of the mushroom circle (as per the mushroom circle lore). O'Neill does some terrible things to Whitehead (sorcery) and he submits to O'Neill's will but he hasn't got much of a choice at that stage anyway. Then mushrooms and booze are taken presumably to help find the treasure buried in the field and they (the director) switch on the wind fan and kick in some weird effects and editing and sound collage work. Whitehead finds no treasure hides from O'Neill and through mysticism or mushroom usage or survival instincts or the ordeal he's been through or a combination of all these things transform him into a braver more independent man whereupon he slays O'Neill, dons his garb and then rejoins the battle a changed man. Maybe the last shot of him and the other two blokes means that he will remember them and they helped his metamorphosis.

[close]

Or something.

[checkoutgirl]

Was it just to have a big(ish) name attached?

Considering it was a 12 day shoot for 300,00 squid, I reckon Barratt wanted to work with Wheatley and was grateful for the few minutes he got. Wheatley is the kind of director that a certain kind of actor are attracted to. Maybe they've got the same agent. Why wouldn't an established want to do such a role anyway ? I don't really understand your thinking, big actors do shit like this all the time and Barratt seems the right fit for me. He's not Robert DeNiro but he can act.

[Bored of Canada]

I actually watched 'Shame' that night too. Too many film willies for one day.

And in regards to Julian, I reckon Ben Wheatley just likes television comedies, so casts Alice Lowe and Steve Oren from all over, Michael Smiley and Marsha from Spaced, Reece Shearsmith from League of Gentlemen, and he just saw that bit in Nathan Barley when he's dressed as the preacher man and/or the Comedy Chekhov shorts and wrote that small role for him. Julian doesn't really seem to be doing much. I'm glad he's still working. I like the guy!

According to that interview I linked yesterday, they wrote the character of Whitehead for Shearsmith. I feel he writes characters based on actors/comedians he likes and really wouldn't be surprised if he wrote it for Julian.

[El Unicornio, mang]

One other thing: did anyone else watch it with headphones on and notice the binaural audio near the end when Whitehead is crawling through the grass with whosname? That was pretty cool. The audio in general was pretty excellent, I thought.

[Bored of Canada]

Spoiler alert

Maybe the last shot of him and the other two blokes means that he will remember them and they helped his metamorphosis.

[close]

Or something.

Spoiler alert

Yeah. I'm still not sure what it means. I immediately thought he was in hell, or purgatory or something when you initially Whitehead gets through the brambles and sees the guy alive and staring. But the reveal of Whitehead standing next to them in his snappy new threads didn't really feel like that was the case. I still reckon the ending of him stumbling into a smokey battlefield with a bunch of people fighting would have been just a mindblowing ending. After such a small scale production where it feels like they're just on this field for budget reasons, having something quite big like that would just be the perfect end. Something that would blow your mind and sell the world and be a good ending, even if they still ended with the same shots after/before that. Wouldn't even need to be that big. just a single static wide shot with 10 re-enactors, some fake guts on the ground and a smoke machine. Then again, I'm obsessed with the idea of changing the ending of Taxi Driver by ending it as Travis Bickle stares up at the ceiling covered in blood...So clearly I'm some kind of fucking arsehole megalomaniac.

[close]

[El Unicornio, mang]

I'm just glad they didn't go with the ending I feared from the beginning:

Whitehead emerges from the bushes and it's actually modern day! (a la

Spoiler alert

The Village

[close]

)

[Bored of Canada]

I'm just glad they didn't go with the ending I feared from the beginning:

Whitehead emerges from the bushes and it's actually modern day! (a la

Spoiler alert

The Village

[close]

)

Spoiler alert

I honestly was half thinking it was going to get to the end and it was going to be revealed that IT WAS modern day, and they were just civil war reenactors who were way too into it. Which I would have really liked as well, though I guess it'd make everything before it a bit meaningless, but hey, it'd be a funny punchline.

[close]

[Ignatius_S]

Considering it was a 12 day shoot for 300,00 squid, I reckon Barratt wanted to work with Wheatley and was grateful for the few minutes he got...

Although Barratt wasn't as well as established at the time, he appeared in a short film, How to Tell when a Relationship is Over (by Tony Roche) as a favour/because he wanted to – wouldn't be surprised if something similar happened here. It's a nice idea for a short (it was also edited down to about 90 seconds for the DePICT competition) but for me, it's the performances that make it.

.... Julian doesn't really seem to be doing much. I'm glad he's still working. I like the guy!....

Actually, Barratt keeps himself pretty busy and the stuff he does is quite variesd Some work like voice work can easily go unnoticed, as can theatrical roles – not that long agon, he was in one new play, NSFW (actually, the it's two short plays), although reviews for the production varied (IIRC, most were favourable),  Barratt was given praise.

[phes]

I think Reece Shearsmith is great but I do like that whatever he's in, he always brings a tiny bit of Geoff Tibbpps with him.

I won the names

[Sexton Brackets Drugbust]

I think Reece Shearsmith is great but I do like that whatever he's in, he always brings a tiny bit of Geoff Tipps with him.

I thought there was quite a bit of Dean Tavalouris what with all the screaming and in the low angle shots looking up at his toothy grinning face.

[Custard]

The sudden close-up of the willy-cock gave me my biggest laff. But hey, that's me. Cocks are funny. Especially sudden and up-close.

I think it was more the soundtrack for it's reveal. Like a sudden guitar twang, or something. Really had me hooting

[Beep Cleep Chimney]

As much as I didn't really like the film, the one bit that's stuck with me is the "Reece Shearsmith coming out of a tent with a rope around him in slow motion"  scene, mainly I think because I really liked the music that was playing over it.  It sounded like it might've been an actual pre-existing song rather than just a piece composed as part of the soundtrack.
Sounded a bit Sigur Ros-y. 
Any ideas what it was/who it was by?

[Subtle Mocking]

As much as I didn't really like the film, the one bit that's stuck with me is the "Reece Shearsmith coming out of a tent with a rope around him in slow motion"  scene, mainly I think because I really liked the music that was playing over it.  It sounded like it might've been an actual pre-existing song rather than just a piece for the soundtrack.
Sounded a bit Sigur Ros-y. 
Any ideas what it was/who it was by?

It's 'Chernobyl' by Blanck Mass. Excellent song from an excellent album.

[Beep Cleep Chimney]

Ooh, lovely.  Thanks.

[checkoutgirl]

Does anyone know the name of the folk song in the film ? I really liked it but my ninja like googling skills have been rebuffed and alas have turned up nought.

[Zetetic]

Baloo, My Boy or Lady Ann Bothwell's Lament.
Linkoo.

[Subtle Mocking]

Does anyone know the name of the folk song in the film ? I really liked it but my ninja like googling skills have been rebuffed and alas have turned up nought.

The instrumental one in the trailer or the trad folk song that Zetetic describes? Neither have been officially released by Rook yet.

[Zetetic]

Actually reading that link, that's supposed to be a Scottish song. Is this a Point, like I assume the Field actually being Monmouthshire[nb]Have I remembered that correctly?[/nb] was meant to be?

[Cerys]

Well, they say it's Monmouthshire - but Monmouthshire is in Wales, not England.

[Subtle Mocking]

Well, they say it's Monmouthshire - but Monmouthshire is in Wales, not England.

The title can still technically be correct, thanks to some confusion in the past over boundaries:

The second Laws in Wales Act of 1542 enumerated the counties of Wales and omitted Monmouthshire – This led to ambiguity as to whether the county was part of Wales or England. Since local government changes in April 1974 the area has been placed definitively in Wales.

[Cerys]

Yet one of the characters refers to having eaten 'a Welsh stoat'.

[Zetetic]

Well, they say it's Monmouthshire - but Monmouthshire is in Wales, not England.

Hence, why I'm wondering if it's a Point. It's as good a place as any I suppose.

(Beyond Subtle Mocking's point, Wales was conquered by and then annexed to England.
It's sensible enough to talk of every part of Wales being in 'England' at the time if you wanted to.)

[Blumf]

Wasn't it one of the characters said he was from Monmouthshire, not that they were in it.

Maps of English Civil War battles, none in Wales