A Field in England (2013) Directed by Ben Wheatley

Despite being a mostly vague and unconventional movie, it never becomes an unpleasant one to watch, which is still probably the best thing I can say about this movie.

It's an experience worth watching but is it also a rewarding one? I have to say, ultimately no! It relies a bit too much on the interpretation of its viewers and therefore leaves most things open. It doesn't feel like lazy film-making or anything but it does feel like it's asking a bit too much of its viewers at times and it ultimately isn't providing you with enough answers.

It obviously is the sort of movie you have to experience yourself and decide for yourself what its themes and story is supposed to be all about. You can't ever really take this movie literally and need to constantly read between the lines, while trying to interpret its metaphors. Everybody should be able to take something different out of this movie and no matter how crazy or unlikely your theories may sound, there is no way you could be wrong about things, since it's the movie itself that forces you to put things together in your own mind, by leaving things open to your own interpretation.


It's also pretty obvious this was a fairly cheap movie to make. It's set entirely outdoors and only features an handful of actors in it. Even the black & white looks cheap. Seems to me that they shot this movie in color and the black & white were applied during the post-production of it. It never looks right really. Think it's because black & white cinematography needs different lighting and such but since this movie was first shot in color, it never used the proper setup for it. Other than that, it's still a pretty good looking movie, with also definitely some great and mesmerizing sequences in it.

It also definitely is far less pretentious than I'm probably letting it sound right now. Like I said before, it never becomes an unpleasant movie to watch, so its 'vagueness' doesn't ever get in the way of its watchable value.

Perhaps you'll be able to take more out of this movie than I did. It's really something you have to experience for yourself and who knows, you may really end up liking it and/or be taken by it.

6/10

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