Tuesday 2 April 2019

The answer is in the soil

I loved it so much I tuned in to i-Player and watched it all the way through twice in less than a week, and now I’ve ordered the DVD too.  If that isn’t a reason to pull on my patent lace-up blogging boots and finally write something here again then I don’t know what is.  

It’s the film Arcadia.  Did you see it?  I missed it on BBC Four when it aired a few weeks ago but thanks to the spot-on recommendation from a good friend who has the measure of my tastes, I turned out the lights, settled back into my chair at my desk under the stairs (the suitably quirky and shadowy cubbyhole from which these posts emanate) and treated myself to it on my PC.  By the eerie blue glow of the modem I let it take me into its part-dream, part-real landscape – one inhabited by the monochrome ghosts of our distant past and the colourful eccentrics of our more recent one,  a place that could only be Britain.  Oh I loved it.  It’s so far up my street it’s in the front door and helping itself to tea and biscuits. 



I didn’t really know what to expect; none of the reviews I’d read beforehand could really give me an accurate insight, and so I realise I probably can't give one here either. Perhaps that’s part of the beauty of this film– its inability to be easily categorized.  I was trying to persuade Mr SDS to watch it with me the second time and found myself struggling to answer his queries.  “What’s it about?”  he asked. I couldn’t explain that one easily.  The British countryside?  Nostalgia?  Nature? The changing seasons?  Life and death?  Folklore?  Any one of those themes would have put him off, and all were too simplistic, so I had to choose my words carefully. 

Arcadia is about all of those things, but in a glorious, eccentric mash-up.  It’s a collage of existing footage, seemingly quite random and yet crafted in such a way as to deliver an unspoken narrative about past, present and future.  It’s arty, but not arty-farty.  And it taps into something that I can imagine only those of us who were brought up in Britain could really, truly get, if you know what I mean.  That could sound worryingly jingoistic; in these horrible times of racism, the rise of the Far Right and Brexit madness I’m almost afraid to mention ‘Britishness’ as a thing – it’s feels almost shameful.  But this film somehow gets to that ‘quintessential’ stuff we all recognise, without passing judgement – an innate identity we can’t help but have because of our experience.  It’s the Britain of BFI Public Information films, Nationwide, maypoles, Alice In Wonderland, foxhunting, the North/South divide, the Wicker Man, Stonehenge, punk.  Mystical, prosaic, carefree, dark, beautiful and brutal -  all these contrasting things and more.  Actually I was quite surprised to find that its creator,the Scottish film-maker Paul Wright, is only 37, because it’d be easy to presume it came from the experience of someone with a few more years under their belt.  (I’m thinking: my age!) I was also put in mind of Julien Temple’s style of montage, which I’ve always enjoyed in his documentary films such as The Filth and The Fury and Oil City Confidential – his characterful way of peppering his work with odd little archive clips.

At least one thing I could tell Mr SDS was that within the first five minutes we'd see some black-and-white footage of the village just up the road from us, where cows were wandering through the deserted main street and where happy-faced women waved to each other across the road from their cottage windows.  Like most of the film, there is something deep and dreamlike in this sense of familiarity now so warped by the passing of time.  There might even be something from your neck of the woods - if you check out this BFI page for it, you can access the sources from which the clips were taken and it's a fascinating selection - I was deeply side-tracked by this later so be warned...

Enhancing it all too is a rather brilliant soundtrack which comes courtesy of Portishead’s Adrian Utley, Goldfrapp’s Will Gregory and folk singer Anne Briggs.

Here's a sample of the music to whet your appetite.

Anyway, what am I doing, taking up your time reading this waffle when you could be watching it?!  There’s only 7 days left on i-Player.  

17 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. I'd be interested to know what you think - it was so hard to describe!

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  2. I read this post earlier in the afternoon, and as I'm having a rare lazy afternoon, headed to the iPlayer straight afterwards.

    Wow - what a piece of film-making. I totally get how it was right up your street. Mesmerising, disturbing, nostalgic, bizarre all at the same time. Too much to say about it here, but I totally agree with your verdict.

    By the way, this was also a wonderful piece of writing from you, what with the:

    "If that isn’t a reason to pull on my patent lace-up blogging boots and finally write something here again then I don’t know what is."

    "The suitably quirky and shadowy cubbyhole from which these posts emanate."

    "It’s so far up my street it’s in the front door and helping itself to tea and biscuits."

    "It’s arty, but not arty-farty."

    "It’s the Britain of BFI Public Information films, Nationwide, maypoles, Alice In Wonderland, foxhunting, the North/South divide, the Wicker Man, Stonehenge, punk."

    I'll stop now before it gets weird, but thanks for enhancing my day no end.

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    1. It's so great to read that you watched it and enjoyed it too Alyson - I hoped I could do it justice! Totally agree with your description as well, especially 'mesmerising' - it's hard to explain why but it just is. I'm looking forward to the DVD arriving so I can watch it on a bigger screen and be even more mesmerised!
      Thanks so much too for your kind words about the writing (blush). I've been struggling to put anything together lately in spite of having a few ideas; just getting down to anything more than a couple of sentences has eluded me. But for some reason this one flowed far more easily, I'm trying to get back in the 'zone'! I think I 'wrote' most of it in my head just before drifting off to sleep.... maybe there's something in that?

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    2. You are welcome - I do agree by the way, in that the easiest time to write is when you are really, really enthused about something, or fired up about a perceived injustice. The words are already swimming around your head and when you hit the keyboard they just start to flow. Of late I've been trying to stick to writing on a Saturday, but a bit restrictive, so a few extra posts have been sneaking in when inspiration strikes.

      Forgot to mention that if your neck of the woods has villages like the one at the start of the film you might be disappointed with our Scottish villages if you make the trip north - We do big scenery, but not too many thatched cottages around here! You live in a lovely part of the country.

      Also, did I catch it properly, but despite being a very British/English looking film it was made by a Scottish film body. At my recent weekend away though, we had a couple of students from Orkney where they have the Ba' Game between the Uppies and Doonies every Christmas Day - It definitely featured in the film and looks vicious.

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    3. Thanks Alyson. Yes I can imagine it being restrictive trying to write on a particular day! I have to work like that with my illustration, get up in the morning and know what I have to achieve each day regardless of whether I'm feeling particularly creative or not, so I think it is possible to discipline oneself like that but does take a bit of getting used to. I don't think I could do it with writing as well as art, though! Glad that you feel inspired to sneak in extra posts as they come.... it's a nice feeling to be able to do that and just go with it.

      The creator of Arcadia, Paul Wright, is in fact Scottish! (I'm going to add that in an edit now!) So I'm glad you've explained about the Ba' Game too. I'm interested in checking out a previous film of his (more a drama) called 'For Those In Peril' which is set in a Scottish fishing community, so you might find that of interest too.

      Plenty of pretty medieval and thatched cottages around here, it's true, but the Scottish landscape is so different with its big scenery and.... you have HILLS! That is quite a novelty! I love what I have seen of your neck of the woods and really we just tend to get used to what we know.

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    4. Actually just clicked on the BFI link in your post (everyone should) and started to watch the individual clips in full. I have a lot to do for my course before the end of term and it has given me inspiration.

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  3. Sold! I'll watch it over the weekend.

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    Replies
    1. I've a feeling you'll really enjoy it. Hope so!

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    2. Phew. Just finished watching. *Takes deep breath*.

      I'm still shaking; I feel as if I've just watched 90 minutes of Wicker Man outtakes. Those Scottish lassies on the bench seat doing the washing will haunt me till the end of time. It's a film that I can't unsee. It's full of subliminal footage that my brain probably hasn't even registered yet. I may need counselling.

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    3. I'm pleased you managed to see it. Now I'm not sure if you enjoyed it or not from your words and hoping it was a positive review...! I'm looking forward to watching it for the third time soon, the DVD has arrived, beautifully packaged with a booklet and extra footage and I can see it on a much larger screen. I shall book the counselling session now....

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    4. Sounds as if John viewed it slightly differently from us C. I fully intend to watch it again soon as I gleaned so much material from it for my course. Disturbing in places granted but in an arty, not an arty-farty way, as you so eloquently said.

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    5. It's interesting how we may each feel about it. Yes it was definitely disturbing in places and I felt quite moved at times. I think the key thing I felt was the way it tapped into something very deep inside which is hard to put into words. Must admit that afterwards I did feel as if I'd just taken drugs! Perhaps that's why I've needed another fix (and then yet another!)

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    6. I'm trying to write a poem a day for NaPoWriMo - Here is what I wrote on our site:

      This is my poem for Day 4, as a result of having watched the wonderful film Arcadia on the BBC iPlayer yesterday - I would encourage you to do the same as lots of inspiration there. You can then go to https://player.bfi.org.uk/free/collection/arcadia and watch all the short films individually. This one was based on a film made in Notting Hill Gate in 1969 (nothing like the one Hugh Grant inhabited in the 1990s).

      Getting it Straight in Notting Hill Gate

      The counter-culture of Notting Hill Gate
      For far too long conflicted by hate
      Sitars play in open spaces
      Children tear through derelict places
      Tie-dye shirts and pork pie hats
      Faulty plumbing in tumble-down flats
      A miasma of smoke fills the room
      To the rescue comes Caroline Coon
      If you've been hassled by the "fuzz"
      She'll fight your corner, just because...
      Perceived injustices are her thing.
      If in a hole... , give her a ring.

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    7. I love it! Really sums up that whole mood of Getting It Straight In Notting Hill Gate (great, wasn't it? especially Caroline Coon, how mature and capable was she for one so young?!)
      All power to you for a poem a day too... hope we'll see more of your writing on your own pages?
      Unfortunately I think the i-player link to Arcadia will have expired by now. I wonder if it'll get shown again on BBC Four - hopefully.

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  4. I did enjoy it. I think I realised that after I'd watched it; I'm still processing it. Sorry to be so angular in my responses.

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    1. I'm glad - and think I know what you mean - that's probably why I had to watch it again so soon after, I felt compelled to return to it. So much was buzzing through my brain and my senses and I needed to pin some of it down more. A very visceral experience!

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