3.39 - A FIELD IN ENGLAND and Psychedelia

Back after a hiatus, we delve further into Ben Wheatley’s oeuvre, with his 2013 historical horror A FIELD IN ENGLAND. Our reviews are mixed, but then we do get into some very interesting discussions about genre collisions, social structure, and whether or not Ben Wheatley will be a success as a blockbuster Hollywood director with his…interesting use of generic and visual ideas!

<u>Next Week</u>

Our final Ben Wheatley film is his latest offering, FREE FIRE (2017), available here: https://www.amazon.co.<wbr />uk/Free-Fire-Sharlto-Copley/<wbr />dp/B06XXNTJ4V.

<u>This Week’s Media</u>

THE HORNE SECTION TV PROGRAMME (2018): Alex Horne, Joe Auckland, Ben Reynolds

PRIVATE SCHOOL (1983): Noel Black, Phoebe Cates, Betsy Russell

<u>Recommendations</u>

NANNY MCPHEE (2005): Kirk Jones, Emma Thompson, Colin Firth

AMBASSADORS (2013): Jeremy Webb, David Mitchell, Robert Webb

GHOST IN THE SHELL (2017): Rupert Sanders, Scarlett Johansson, Michael Carmen Pitt

NAKED LUNCH (1991): William S. Burroughs, David Cronenberg, Peter Weller

<u>Footnotes</u>

For more on the history of the English Civil War, this is a good place to start: https://books.google.<wbr />co.uk/books?id=M6rMqOtMNasC&<wbr />printsec=frontcover&source=<wbr />gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=<wbr />onepage&q&f=false. While we’re recommending books, this is a good introduction to one of the many genres with which Wheatley engages in this film: https://books.google.co.<wbr />uk/books?id=1VGsrJEdnfEC&<wbr />printsec=frontcover&dq=giallo+<wbr />horror&hl=en&sa=X&ved=<wbr />0ahUKEwj0rLSXk_<wbr />jbAhUJa8AKHWLED-kQ6AEILzAB#v=<wbr />onepage&q=giallo%20horror&f=<wbr />false. This is a good article on the presentation of psychedelia on film: http://realitysandwich.<wbr />com/318989/psychedelia-in-the-<wbr />movies. Sam mentions Rabelais and ‘the world turned upside down’; Bakhtin’s take on Rabelais is quite old, but still very good: https://books.google.co.<wbr />uk/books?id=SkswFyhqRIMC&pg=<wbr />PA370&lpg=PA370&dq=rabelais+<wbr />the+world+turned+upside+down&<wbr />source=bl&ots=wgwpACfQeE&sig=<wbr />kjdL0t4B9x3Cw86XlgKCwgmf-xM&<wbr />hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjz4J_Zk_<wbr />jbAhUiDsAKHWNACAYQ6AEIJzAA#v=<wbr />onepage&q=rabelais%20the%<wbr />20world%20turned%20upside%<wbr />20down&f=false. Looking for more on the concept, though, I found information about a ballad called ‘The World Turned Upside Down’ that was a direct political response to Parliament’s restrictive policies about freedom of expression and celebration — so this is probably what O’Neil is talking about: https://en.wikipedia.<wbr />org/wiki/The_World_Turned_<wbr />Upside_Down. Finally, to end on a cheery note, this is an introduction to a book on death, purgatory, and other upbeat topics: http://www.<wbr />oxfordbibliographies.com/view/<wbr />document/obo-9780195399301/<wbr />obo-9780195399301-0083.xml.