h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

An alchemist has two apprentices, and these are perhaps two aspects of the alchemist himself. They are very different, and he is nearing death and needs to select one of them to be his successor, so he allows one to flee with some if his papers and sends the second off in pursuit. The apprentice who fled is a sociopath. The one who is sent off in pursuit is a coward. They follow different gods. Each has his familiar. The sociopath abuses his familiar and the coward is abused by his, but this familiar dies once the coward has been chased into the field. In the field are the coward, the sociopath's familiar, and two innocents. In the field the rules of the universe are dis-applied. Only one of the apprentices will leave the field. The familiars are unimportant. But what will become of the two innocents? The joining of the plate is significant, but so too is the setting aside of the weapons. The fate of the innocents discovers the true nature of the treasure in the field. The winning apprentice is literally purged and metaphorically purged, and goes to claim his prize.

Anyway, that's my take on A Field in England. I saw it at the Picturehouse last night and the air conditioning was off but I stuck it out. The Q&A at the end was a treat. The film was ... I want to see it again. Reference points - Tarkovsky, Jodorowsky, Peter Watkins, Lych, Kubrick, Witchfinder General (Matthew Reeves?), The Invasion of Thunderbolt Pagoda (Ira Cohen?)&c - even a touch of this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRdh_wrTrXM . The Music was brilliant - Blanck Mass used to excellent effect, reminiscent of T Dream circa Zeit.

Some real real creep-out images and the psychedelic trip - well, think 'through the stargate' from 2001 in B&W. Ben Wheatley is firing on all cylinders at the minute, a true auteur.



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