A Field in England (2013) or, Shit and Thistles

11/28/2016

A Field in England (2013) or, Shit and Thistles

♥♥

One of the fashionably psychedelic posters for Ben Wheatley's A Field in England, which prominently features Martin Scorsese's head-scratching endorsement of the film

A small group of men desert the civil war battles in the English countryside in the 17th century and head for a mysterious ale bar under the influence of, among other things, mushrooms, bad digestion and hatred among themselves.

A Field in England begins well and is certainly merry in a gross, expletive-fraught, English manner, although after 45 minutes it feels like an exercise in vulgarity and little else. (SPOILER Among other things, we are treated to one character pissing on two others, who are in a hole, whereupon one of them is shot by accident in the subsequent quarrel.)
The plot does not gain interest or thrills along the way; it just gets weirder, revolving around a symbolic black hole (death, very likely.) Some of the lengthily drawn out shots, such as one of the shooting of a foot, feels in the context of the mystery-loving Field in England as borderline (if not just plain) pretentious. The sufferings, mystery, cursing and vulgarity isn't the mere surface of anything deep or poignant, as it may give the impression of in this disappointing 4th theatrical feature from great English director Ben Wheatley (Kill List (2011)). It is written by Amy Jump (High-Rise (2015)).

Related posts:

Ben Wheatley: 2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED V]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
Kill List (2011) - Wheatley's jaw-breaking, great genre-mixer

One of the film's executive producers is interviewed here about the alternative release strategy of the film

Cost: 316k £, equal to approximately 390k $

Box office: 64k $

= Mega-flop

[A Field in England was released simultaneously in British cinemas, as VoD, home video and on Film4 on July 5, and it runs 91 minutes. Filming lasted just 12 days in September 2012 in England. The simultaneous release strategy for the film was reportedly the first time this was attempted in the UK with an English film. The film opened #63 in 13 theaters to a dismal 9k $ first weekend in North America, where it only went down from there and grossed 32k $. The film's other market grosses are not public, and the 64k $ total gross is what's presented on its Wikipedia. Only based on the theatrical gross, - which is what is always done on this website, - the film is a mega-flop. A Field in England is certified fresh at 87 % with a 7.2 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of A Field in England?

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Donald Sutherland has passed away

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William Friedkin has died

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Louise Fletcher has passed away

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Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

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Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

Born in Vaucluse, France, Trintignant's theatrical debut as an actor was in If All the Guys in the World... (1955). Later credits include ...And God Created Woman (1956), The Seven Deadly Sins (1961), Inferno (1964), A Man and A Woman (1966), My Love, My Love (1967), A Man to Kill (1967), The Great Silence (1968), Z (1969), The Assassination (1972), Three Colors: Red (1994), Amour (2012), Happy End (2017) and many more. He also wrote and directed two films in the 1970s. Trintignant passed away at age 91. R.I.P.

Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (14-24)

11/28/2016