A Field in England

Ben Wheatley’s fever dream of a film, A Field in England, will have you scraping your brain off of the floor by the time the end credits save you from the madness. Set during the English civil war, we follow four blokes as they flee the field of war and turn from soldiers to wanderers, trekking through the titular field in search of an alehouse. They inexplicably unearth an Irish alchemist (or something like that), and the dark man proceeds to abuse the sorry souls (and us) into a state of helpless insanity. Wheatley utilizes a barrage of strobing diabolical imagery, grimy black and white photography, and disorienting narrative leaps to jostle loose your grip on reality, and the effect is astonishing. As an experience, it’s truly something else. Something that must be seen to be believed. [Bernard]

Proxy

Proxy opens with a scene so disturbing it’ll be too repulsive and morally disagreeable for most (walk-outs are almost guaranteed). In the scene, our main character, Esther, walking home from a prenatal doctor’s appointment, goes from pregnant to not pregnant in the worst way possible. Let’s leave it at that. It’s an upfront declaration of the film’s wickedness, and should vex the weak of stomach and delight those with a taste for the twisted, gruesome, and psychotic. The vile tone never lets up, as the film explores the darkest corners of mental illness in graphic, sadistic fashion. Director Zack Parker’s images, despite their repulsiveness, look slick and often poetic, and his cast (including indie favorite Joe Swanberg) is solid. [Bernard]

Teenage

Teenage is an earnest examination of the teenager’s role in culture. It may not provide many new insights, but it does use an impressive array of archival footage to convey the shifting ideals and subcultures of the early 20th century. Though the film’s attempts at character-driven diversions feel a bit muddled, director Matt Wolf overall does an effective job of showing the similarities of teens through the years. Featuring narration by actors including Jena Malone and Ben Whishaw and a vibrant score by Bradford Cox (Deerhunter), Teenage feels like an elegant though somewhat on-the-nose love letter to rebellion and identity. [Colleen]

How to Be a Man

Mark (Gavin McInness) is a retired comedian faced with terminal breast cancer (hmm…) who wants to make a series of man-advice videos for his unborn son. He finds a young man (Liam Aiken) to film it for him and, predictably, they form a quick father-son bond. How to Be a Man is an Apatow-ish,  toilet-humor fueled, raunch-comedy that manages to be pretty funny despite its derivative makeup. McInness is a gifted funny man, and director Chad Harbold gives him space to strut his stuff. (A public sexual instruction scene is given ample screen time, and McInness shines.) Aiken almost gets lost completely in McInness’ shadow, however. The film isn’t as edgy as it thinks it is, but neither are most films of its ilk. A solid effort. [Bernard]

From Febuary 6-20, SF Indiefest will be celebrating 16 years of independent film goodness with a stacked program of indie films of all kinds, from docs, to comedies, to horror flicks, to dramas, to shorts…and the list goes on. The lineup is super exciting: for fans of independent film (you guys), this is going to be freaking Disneyland. Plus, to get to talk to up-and-coming filmmakers before they hit it big is indie cred in the bank. The films will play at the Roxie and Brava theaters in San Francisco, and at the New Parkway Theater in Oakland.

This year’s theme is “Sweet Sixteen”, and keeping with the tradition of “keeping the festival festive”, there will be a slew of off-the-wall parties and events to keep you busy: an opening night party, a Roller Disco Party, the Bad Art Gallery (awesome), a Pub Quiz, an Anti Valentine’s Day 80’s Power Ballad Sing-along, the famous annual Big Lebowski Party (featuring a 35mm screening of the film and a costume contest), and more. It’s a great time (I had a blast last year), and the parties give the festival a more quirky, fun, inviting atmosphere than any other film fest in the Bay Area. For more info, visit sfindie.com

This is my personal favorite festival of the year, and we at Way Too Indie obviously have a close connection with the films being showcased. Stay tuned for comprehensive coverage, including reviews, interviews, photos, videos, and more. If you live in or around the Bay Area, I hope to see you there!

Here are 5 films we’re looking forward to (though there are plenty more):

I Hate Myself : )

This subversive documentary by filmmaker Joanna Arnow should please fans of Girls and docs alike. Centering on Arnow’s relationship with her racially provocative, instigative boyfriend, the film features exceedingly intimate, hard-to-watch footage of the couple (both emotional and sexual) that will make you cringe and squirm in your seat, guaranteed. Themes of femininity, sexuality, dysfunctional love, and racism pervade, making the film a catalyst for rich post-screening conversation. The film has been garnering a lot of buzz on the festival circuit, and it’s heading into San Francisco with a lot of momentum. Arnow will be in attendance at the festival along with her “naked” co-editor Max Karson, who bares all in the doc. It’s said he may appear “in costume”, whatever that means…

Screens at New Parkway 2/11 7pm, Roxie 2/14 7pm, 2/18 7pm

A Field in England

At last year’s festival, Ben Wheatley’s Sightseers was one of the strangest (in a good way) films that played, and his entry this year, A Field in England, looks to be just as darkly bizarre. Set in the English civil war, the film follows a group of starving soldiers fleeing from battle. They fall under the control of a sadistic necromancer who induces them into a state of wild hysteria. I’m a big fan of strange cinematic mindfucks (The Legend of Kaspar Hauser, which played at last year’s Indiefest, was one of my favorites), and Wheatley’s film looks to scratch that itch. Shot in grimy black and white, it’s praised by Martin Scorsese as being a “stunning cinematic experience”. If Scorsese’s endorsement isn’t enough to whet your appetite, I don’t know what is.

Screens at Roxie 2/8 7pm, 2/9 1215pm

 The Congress

Based on a sci-fi novel by Stanislaw Lem, The Congress stars Robin Wright as herself in a version of the future where actors can sell their digital likeness to movie studios for them to use in any way they see fit (depending on contract stipulations, of course). She’ll be gracing the silver screen for all eternity, forever young, and she gets a hefty payday, but as she grows older the ugly ramifications of signing away her likeness begin to surface. Waltz With Bashir director Ari Folman utilizes both live-action and animated techniques to tell his story, with a trippy, psychedelic animated middle section that’s sure to blow a mind or two. The Congress will open up the festival this Thursday at the Brava theater, and should set the tone for the festival nicely with its reality-bending style.

Screens at Brava 2/6 7pm

Blue Ruin

Jeremy Saulnier’s outrageous horror-comedy Murder Party played at SF Indiefest in 2007, and after a long directorial hiatus he returns to the festival with Blue Ruin. The film Dwight (Macon Blair), an unassuming bum who lives in his car, as he seeks to avenge the death of his parents by tracking down their recently-released-from-prison killer. It won the FIPRESCI prize at Cannes and kept the buzz buzzing at Sundance. Blair’s performance has been garnering universal acclaim as well. It’s great when you find the rare genre piece crafted with an artful sensibility (You’re Next), and Blue Ruin looks to be a violent, thrilling piece of indie filmmaking. The film will close out the festival.

Screens at Roxie 2/9 7pm, 2/20 915pm

Proxy

Zack Parker’s Proxy harbors some of the most unsettling, look-through-your-fingers movie moments I’ve seen in years, and as far as I’m concerned, it’s a must-see for festival attendees, if only to share the shock of these devilish images with a room full of people. Collective gasps, moans, screams, and theater walk-outs are almost a guarantee, and honestly, there are few festival experiences more enjoyable than watching a crowd of people pushed to their limits by a movie. The film opens with  a pregnant woman, Esther Woodhouse, being brutally attacked in an alleyway. The film only gets darker and more disturbing as she seeks mental help at a support group and descends into a world of sexual obsession as she befriends a woman who may be just as fucked-in-the-head as she is. The film, which features indie darling Joe Swanberg in a supporting role, is best suited for those with an appetite for unadulterated sadism and gore.

Screens at Roxie 2/16 915pm, 2/20 7pm

Over the last 2 weeks my opinions have changed towards some of the films I’ve seen. Watching up to 4 films in one day can be exhausting, and sometimes through reflection films can seem better or worse in retrospect. In other words, if there are inconsistencies between my list and the reviews/ratings I gave, deal with it.

My Top 20 Films from the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival:

#20 – The Strange Colour of Your Body’s Tears

It’s amazing how much Cattet/Forzani’s style worked in Amer, and how much it didn’t work here. At the start I was thinking it might be the best film I saw at TIFF up to that point. At the end it felt like nails on a chalkboard.
The Strange Colour of Your Body’s Tears review

#19 – Moebius

This only gets ranked above Strange Colour purely by the fact that I could watch it without a problem.
Moebius review

#18 – The Green Inferno

Half of the movie is poorly acted and written drivel. The other half’s nastiness and excellent make-up by KnB make it more tolerable, but this belongs right alongside the other horror films only available on VOD.
The Green Inferno review

#17 – Like Father, Like Son

A complicated moral tale destroyed by its director making his characters spend 2 hours catching up to agree with his point of view (which is established immediately). A snooze.
Like Father, Like Son review

#16 – A Field in England

A cheap, nonsensical and mind-maddening period piece involving alchemists and hallucinogenic mushrooms. Some fun moments when things go berserk editing-wise, but that’s about the only entertainment value I got out of it.
A Field in England review

#15 – Night Moves

Kelly Reichardt is still terrific behind the camera, but she put all her eggs in the wrong basket this time. Nothing really works here on a fundamental level, leaving the visuals and cast to do their best.
Night Moves review

#14 – October November

Gotz Spielmann’s disappointing follow-up to Revanche tries to tell a dramatic story with no real drama in it. An admirable effort, but nothing more than that.
October November review

#13 – Canopy

An amazing debut on a technical level, but ultimately lacking. Still, Aaron Wilson will be a name to look out for if he makes another film.
Canopy review

#12 – R100

At times hilarious, but completely baffling overall. Hitoshi Matsumoto’s usual brand of off-kiler humour and self-aware jokes just don’t mix as well as his other films this time.
R100 review

#11 – The Sacrament

Ti West’s attempt to document a modern-day Jonestown hasn’t been aging well with me. It’s still well-done, and has some excellent warming up in the first two acts, but it isn’t making much of an impact in the way his previous films have with me. The subject matter seems a little bit in poor taste too if you know what it’s based on, but it’s still an effective horror film.
The Sacrament review

#10 – Under the Skin

I have my issues with it, but I can’t deny Under the Skin‘s power. It’s one of the more Kubrickian films I’ve seen in years, and I still can’t shake some images from it out of my head. I wish the shift in the second half was handled better, but in time I feel like I’ll grow to appreciate Under the Skin much more than I already do.
Under the Skin review

#9 – Gravity

It’s disappointing from Cuaron, but I can’t deny how much of a technical marvel this is. Expect this to win all the technical awards at the Oscars. There won’t even be a competition.
Gravity review

#8 – Manakamana

One of the most fascinating films I saw at the festival, and it further establishes Harvard’s Sensory Ethnography Lab as one of the best documentary producers today. It was a pleasant surprise when Cinema Guild picked this up for distribution, and I hope that people are willing to give it a chance.
Manakamana review

#7 – Blind Detective

Johnnie To loses his mind, and the results are just as entertaining as many of his other films. Even when he’s switching genres between films (or within the films themselves), To proves he’s one of the more consistent filmmakers working today.
Blind Detective review

#6 – Why Don’t You Play In Hell?

Sono is back on form with his absolutely insane love letter to 35mm filmmaking and projection. It’s gloriously bonkers, simultaneously all over the place and tightly controlled, and a fun time for the most part.
Why Don’t You Play In Hell? review

#5 – The Past

Asghar Farhadi makes yet another well-done drama, with a terrific cast playing people who can’t escape the tragedies from (say it with me) their pasts. Farhadi seems to be the only filmmaker doing stories like this today, and we’re all the better for it.
The Past review

#4 – Oculus

Mike Flanagan lives up to the potential he showed in Absentia. It’s a horror film that understands the power of story, with a terrifying villain and a terrific script that uses its single location brilliantly. Hopefully audiences will discover Oculus, as the horror genre needs more people like Flanagan.
Oculus review

#3 – Stranger By The Lake

Gorgeous, seductive and a total nail-biter by the end. Stranger is an amazingly well-constructed film that will resonate with anyone who watches it.
Stranger By The Lake review

#2 – Only Lovers Left Alive

A film where one can live vicariously through its characters, and Jarmusch nails the carefree tone he’s clearly going for. It’s a big, long kiss to great artists throughout history, and it’s a total blast to watch.
Only Lovers Left Alive review

#1 – Stray Dogs

Tsai Ming-Liang’s swan song pushes the limits of his style (and his actors!) further than ever before. It’s a film where the weight of time on its characters are fully understood, and a showcase of just how masterful Tsai is when it comes to form. If it truly is his last film, he’ll be going out with one of his best films to date.
Stray Dogs review

After spending the previous day watching two very slow-moving films, I figured I was ready to take on the latest film from one of the masters of ‘slow cinema.’ I’ve been a huge fan of Tsai Ming-Liang’s work over the years, but his last film Visage was more or less a flop when it premiered at Cannes four years ago. When I sat down for an afternoon screening of Stray Dogs, Tsai’s latest (which also won the Grand Jury Prize at Venice), I wasn’t sure of what I was going to get. Thankfully, I got the first truly great film I’ve seen at TIFF this year.

Stray Dogs

As many other reviews have said by this point, plot and narrative don’t have much of a place in Stray Dogs. A single father (Lee Kang-Sheng, a regular in Tsai’s films) lives in poverty with his two children (Sheng’s real-life nephew and niece), and they encounter three different women who might actually be the same person. Spending time going over these kinds of details are fruitless anyways, as it’s not what Tsai is interested in either.

Tsai’s slow style ends up portraying homelessness and poverty in a way that I can’t say I’ve seen before. With nowhere for these characters to go and nothing for them to do, Tsai conveys the huge physical and emotional weight of time on these people with every moment. The father tries earning income by, ironically, holding up signs advertising real estate. There are several shots where the camera stays motionless, observing him standing in the rain for 6 or 7 minutes at a time. The series of shots reach a powerful conclusion when they show Lee in a close-up, crying as he sings an old song.

It’s only one of the many stunning moments throughout Stray Dogs, as Tsai shows he still is a complete master when it comes to form. His shots may go on for a while, but they’re framed with such care and precision it’s hard not to immerse oneself in what’s on screen. Even scenes like one where Lee eats a meal for nearly 10 minutes is captivating to watch. For the character it’s presumably their first proper meal in ages, and the camera treats it with the same importance as the father does.

The eating scene is one of the lesser examples of the literal and figurative lengths Tsai goes to in Stray Dogs. The most buzzed about scene since its premiere involves Lee kissing, suffocating, eating and crying over a cabbage for 11 minutes. Yes, it’s absurd, but watching Lee run through so many emotions throughout the scene is a marvel to watch. And amazingly nobody has put too much of an emphasis on the penultimate shot, a scene that bowled me over completely in its extremity. It’s one of Tsai’s best moments in his long and wonderful career, and shows just how powerful duration can be when used wisely. It might not be the best entry point for Tsai’s films, but anyone willing to embrace the style will be in for one of Tsai’s best (and, sadly, possibly last) works as a director.

RATING: 8.2

A Field in England

On the flip side, Ben Wheatley’s A Field in England proved to be a depressing indicator for me that the director’s downward shift in quality since his first feature is here to stay. Taking place during the English Civil War in the 1600s, a group of deserters come upon an alchemist in the woods who drugs and uses them as helpers for a treasure hunt. The combination of a period piece with psychedelic imagery sounds like it could make for a great match, but most of A Field in England is a slog to get through. Read more in my full review, which is linked below.

Full Review of A Field in England

Next up:

I take a little break before returning with Johnnie To’s new film, along with Sion Sono’s next attempt at doing something batshit crazy (and early word says he succeeds with flying colours).

Over the last five years, Ben Wheatley has shown himself to be someone hard to pin down. His brilliant 2009 debut Down Terrace was a hilarious small-scale crime drama that got comparisons to Mike Leigh and Guy Ritchie. His two follow-ups, Kill List and Sightseers, are a genre-bending horror film and pitch black comedy respectively. Wheatley’s fourth film once again shows his versatility as a filmmaker, this time filming a period piece that slowly transforms into pure psychedelic insanity.

Unfortunately, every film since Down Terrace Wheatley has been displaying diminishing returns, and A Field in England continues his slow downward descent in quality. Taking place in the 1600s during the English Civil War, the film opens with an alchemist’s assistant (Reece Shearsmith) meeting a looter and two deserters. They decide to go off together through a field on their way to a pub, but end up meeting a different alchemist (Michael Smiley, who’s always great in Wheatley’s films) who plans to use them in his hunt for a buried treasure hidden in the field. The alchemist, using a lot of hallucinogenic mushrooms, convinces the group to dig for him, but soon enough things go bad in the worst ways possible.

There really isn’t much of a point to A Field in England’s story. Most of the story’s movements, from the group’s banding together to the alchemist’s heavy influence over them, feel inexplicable. That inexplicable feeling permeates throughout most of the film, as the psychedelic aspect lets Wheatley throw in experimental segues. The use of tableaux and some intense editing (the film opens with a warning about stroboscopic images, which viewers should take heed of) keep things interesting, but their execution feels amateur.

It’s a bit surprising how much the small budget (under half a million) shows, considering how good Wheatley has been at working with small production costs up to this point. The location gives off the feeling that it was shot in someone’s backyard, and the glossy look of the cinematography (shot digitally, of course) doesn’t work with the film’s time period. Granted, the film does look very nice, but there’s a sheen to the images that comes into conflict with the griminess on display.

As the last act brings things to a berserk, seizure-inducing finish, there are a few fun moments to be had. The major drug tripping sequence, where someone eats a pile of mushrooms and goes seemingly insane, is filled with so many split-second cuts and mirrored images that it’s hard not to be transfixed. The scene is a reminder of Wheatley’s talents, but it also shows how wasted those skills feel here. With each successive film, Wheatley has shown himself to be adaptable as a director, but at the same time there’s a level of carelessness to the proceedings that ruins things. A Field in England feels like it was tossed off as a quick project rather than something carefully made. And if the filmmakers don’t seem to really care about what they’re doing, why should we?

A Field in England trailer: