#peter ferdinando

2013

30 days of Doctor Who: Favorite debut episode

A field in England, 2013

Completely upended not only my expectations for this film but for what the experience of watching a movie can be like. A seemingly impossible mix of really funny British low-brow comedy, intense and occasionally uncomedic violence, and some of the most frenetic and experimental editing I have ever seen. Sometimes I try to write down here what I think a film is 'about'. That concept is erased here. I could (and towards the beginning I wanted to) try to pin down what it's saying about humans and the land, and how we relate to the sometimes mystical physicality of the world, and whether there is something lurking beyond our ken that leads us to our reveries, but even that topic seems small after watching the whole thing. That shot of Whitehead coming out of the tent is mind altering. I think it made me happy, by the end. Would have loved to see this in a theater, but there's only one or two I've been to that I could imagine showing it.

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January 18th 2025