High-Rise (2015) - Wheatley gets lost in strange societal critique adaptation

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Glamorous stars assemble on this kaleidoscopic poster for Ben Wheatley's High-Rise

A new resident in a 1970s high-rise attempts to find his place in its closed, class-divided inner society.

 

High-Rise is written by Amy Jump (A Field in England (2013)), adapting High Rise (1975) by J.G. Ballard (The Burning World (1964)), and directed by great English filmmaker Ben Wheatley (Down Terrace (2009)).

The film feels like the fevered deliriums of a deranged Brit about 1970s class society and its people. The pace is strangely uneasy, rushed from the get-go, but this is no great narrative that sets an agenda. 

For periods the strange film is nightmarish, but more often it is just remote and unengaging as it tumbles along and feels oddly archaic, as if what 40 years ago was a terse work is now - here - for inscrutable reasons staged in its original 1970s period, but completely without context. The unreality is mixed with a feeling of pretentious indulgence, when the characters of the almost incomprehensible film continue to abide in violence and smoking in ridiculous numbers of shots. Not unlike the recent Filth (2013), High-Rise is a late adaptation of an English work of dark and acerbic grain, which loses millions as a commercial product in itself and is a solid bummer.

 

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]

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

Top 10: Best drama-thrillers reviewed by Film Excess to date 
Kill List (2011) - Wheatley's jaw-breaking, great genre-mixer

 

Watch a  trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 6.1 mil. £, approximately 8 mil. $

Box office: 5.3 mil. $

= Huge flop (returned 0.66 times its cost)

[High-Rise premiered 13 September (Toronto International Film Festival) and runs 119 minutes. Shooting took place from June - August (2014) in Northern Ireland, including in Belfast. The film opened #39 to a 79k $ first weekend in 79 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #37 and never grew in theater count, grossing 346k $ (6.5 % of the total gross). The film's biggest markets were the UK with 2.8 mil. $ (52.8 %), Portugal with 1 mil. $ (18.9 %) and Russia with 645k $ (12.2 %). Wheatley returned with Free Fire (2016). Tom Hiddleston (Thor: Ragnarok (2017)) returned in Crimson Peak (2015). High-Rise is fresh at 60 % with a 6.50/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of High-Rise?

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

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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?

Kill List (2011) - Wheatley's jaw-breaking, great genre-mixer

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1 Time Film Excess Nominee:


Best Cinematography: Laurie Rose (lost to Phedon Papamichael for The Descendants)

+ Best English Movie of the Year

The ghoulish, tense poster for Ben Wheatley's Kill List

An ex-military couple in England fight a tremendous deal. The man takes on a new, shady job with his professional friend and partner: What seems like a child pornography ring is to be slaughtered, but as the two proceed, threats begin to hit home.

Kill List is British filmmaker Ben Wheatley's (Down Terrace (2009)) really intense and discomforting 5th film. The three leads all play their parts eminently and impressively real: Neil Maskell (Pusher (2012)), MyAnna Buring (The Descent (2005)) and Michael Smiley (The Lobster (2015)) who won the Best Supporting Actor award as Gal at the British Independent Film Awards.
Kill List is flawlessly filmed (by Laurie Rose (The ABCs of Death (2012))), packing a minimalistic score (by Jim Williams (A Field in England (2013))) and a strong visual style. The ending of this unusual thriller/horror-drama is really scary and nightmarish.
Kill List raises many questions that are not clearly answered. It can be interpreted as the total rejection of vigilantism and violence in general, - even though the film itself is very violent.
Wheatley's Kill List, which he co-wrote with Amy Jump (Sightseers (2012)), has already established itself as a modern occult horror classic with both terrifying horror and a symbolic smacking of home-come soldiers, who are shown as more violent psychopaths than brave, returning patriots. The film has a wild 3rd act. It is a wild film. - And I'm simply wild about it!

Related posts:
 
2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III] 
2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2011 in films - according to Film Excess
 

Watch the unnerving trailer for the film here

Cost: 0.8 mil. $
Box office: 0.4 mil. $
= Huge flop
[Kill List made nearly all of its earnings in the UK, and, sadly, was not pungently released elsewhere, despite great reviews. Wheatley is busy at the moment making the higher-budgeted action feature High-Rise (2015).]

What do you think of Kill List?
Seen Wheatley's other films?
If so how was/were it/they?