A Field in England (Ben Wheatley)

Sad Professor

We’re incredibly excited to announce that Ben Wheatley’s A Field in England will be the first ever UK film released simultaneously in cinemas, on DVD, on freeview TV and on VoD on Friday 5th July, as Film4, Picturehouse and 4DVD partner for a groundbreaking day-and-date release with support from the BFI

http://blog.film4.com/a-field-in-england-premieres-in-cinemas-and-on-film4-on-the-same-day/

The problem, of course, is whether cinemas will bother showing it at all.

Given the choice, what way would choose to see the film?

Technocentral

Sad Professor wrote: »

http://blog.film4.com/a-field-in-england-premieres-in-cinemas-and-on-film4-on-the-same-day/

The problem, of course, is whether cinemas will bother showing it at all.

Given the choice, what way would choose to see the film?

In a drug induced haze.

I don't think it's quite the big deal many are making it out to be. A lot of films in the UK get a theatrical release the Friday before the DVD and VOD is available. While Wheatley has had some success in the past he's hardly a name whose guaranteed to be able to open a film wide.

As I have my doubts that it will play in my local cinema I'll be preordering the Blu-ray and watching it the week after.

krudler

I think it's great, if it means interest is at it's highest and you can legally watch and contribute towards a film without having to travel to see it or not see it at all it win win. wish more indie movies went down this route.

Fysh

It's a smart move, and not surprising at all. The Curzon chain of arthouse cinemas already do something similar when they can - on several occasions they've had a stream-on-demand option available for new films they were showing in their cinemas, which means that if you can't make a screening or can't be arsed travelling there, you've got another way of legitimately watching it.

Film 4 are in a special position by dint of having a free-to-air film channel as well as having a related production company; given the way that Channel 4 has been pushing 4OD as not just a catch-up service but a testing ground for new material, I would expect that this is beta testing a new release model. I welcome it, personally. I love the cinema experience but a greater variety of choices is good for us as audience members, and just think - this might stop some of those idiots who go to the cinema just to act the bollix from leaving the house and annoying the rest of us!

Looper007

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRRvzjkzu2U

Banjaxed82

If there's a Cineworld Unlimited Card version on VOD, then sign me up. Otherwise, the cinema it is.

I will choose big screen over TV every day of the week, regardless of the film.

Phony Scott

Well worth reminding folks this is on tomorrow night (Friday) on Film4 at 10:45pm!

Gamayun

Phony Scott wrote: »

Well worth reminding folks this is on tomorrow night (Friday) on Film4 at 10:45pm!

85min running time, 10.45pm - 12.10am, so it must be ad-free then, though that was to be expected in order to synchronise with the cinema/VOD.

Kill list (2011) (also Ben Wheatley) is on tonight at 11.05pm Film4 as part of the run up.

losthorizon

In some ways its good that its on TV as this film would not appear at my local cinema but my preference would be to view it in the the movie theatre as I have heard nothing but positive reviews.

Fysh

....

I enjoyed that, but I'm definitely going to need to watch it a second time to try and get a better grip on it. Wheatley's post-film commentary is interesting though, particularly his statement that certain sequences were deliberately intended as "an assault on the audience"

johnny_ultimate

I was too tired for that :pac:

Intriguing for sure. In terms of sheer craftsmanship it's a big step up from Sightseers and back to the go-for-broke aesthetic insanity of Kill List. It takes it further, even, especially in that insane psychedelic section (the final mirror images blending into themselves was remarkable). Certainly a sense of dread. Loved the way they used music, made me quite uneasy. The bursts of black comedy were very welcome.

Narrative wise, my initial reaction might be it doesn't necessarily need a definitive interpretation. Just strap yourself in for the lunacy. That said, my brain wasn't quite operating on a particularly analytical level so I'll have to reexamine that somewhere along the line :pac: There definitely were some themes and ideas suggested, especially a conflict between emerging science and ancient superstition. But the film seems to be about mood and experience above all. I have no major problem with that

Sad Professor

I think I need to watch that again.

Bonkers.

old hippy

I can't find the soundtrack but I did find this from the "man with rope" scene

The imagery of that film will stay with me for a long time.

Psychedelic

I enjoyed this, it definitely delivered on the weirdness front anyway. It was also very stylish and even felt like a Sergio Leone western with a Morricone-esque score in certain scenes and the way those scenes were shot/staged. The soundtrack was excellent throughout.

It was also funny. I felt at heart the film is an oddball comedy caper that turns into a nightmare, but the craziness it descends into can be funny its own right. I got a Third Policeman vibe off it and at one point I even thought it was going to end in the same way.

Gonna get this on Blu-ray now.

Fysh

My DVD arrived today along with a copy of Down Terrace; I'll be arranging a group viewing with a few friends who've expressed an interest in the film. (All I need to do now is convince them that a double bill of A Field In England and Pierce Brosnan's "Taffin" is a horrible idea...)

fryup

old hippy wrote: »

I can't find the soundtrack but I did find this from the "man with rope" scene

The imagery of that film will stay with me for a long time.

Mark Kermode said that was one of the creepiest scenes he's ever seen in cinema

Ugo Monye spacecraft experience

Has anyone else had the pleasure of seeing this?

I absolutely loved Kill List which I went into literally knowing nothing about the film so similarly I went into A Field in England knowing more or less nothing about the plot

It's very different too Kill List, much more experimental and obtuse. But it really is a very dark brooding well executed very well imo

The mushroom hallucination scene in particular is mad, but the one scene that really got to me was he rope scene!

johnny_ultimate

Threads merged and title changed for easier future searching!

Ugo Monye spacecraft experience

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

Threads merged and title changed for easier future searching!

Ya sorry, searched for a thread but couldn't find one! Hence my starting a new thread!

johnny_ultimate

No worries, thread title was about the release details so hard to find, it had just inevitably morphed into a discussion of the film itself

charlie_says

I thought this was fairly remarkable. Not entirely sure if I understood all of it, but it didn't matter at the end. I was scratching my head smiling

What a piece of work. The trippy sequence was enthralling, the film makers obviously have eaten a fields worth of mushrooms themselves :pac:

Definitely not for everybody. I'm OK with not understanding anon linear movie but enjoying it anyway, however if it wasn't for how great it looked and sounded I'd probably wouldn't have made it all the way to the end as it could be fairly baffling.

Reece Shearsmith and Michael Smiley were both excellent.

vidor

I'm with you on that. Approaching a year since I saw it and I remember coming out of it not really knowing what exactly happened, but at the same time loving that feeling. Different type of film but I had a similar experience with Inland Empire. Not many films can have that effect on you.

fearrua

This goes in with Kill List and Valhalla Rising as films that I enjoyed, but suspect there was a lot that went waaaay over my head or meanings I didn't get. Strange but great.