Film Analysis: Band Frontman Jason Williamson Takes On Role in Critical Look at 90s Rave Culture
The work of Portishead co-founder Geoff Barrow, this scabrous though slight debut feature turns a sceptical eye on 90s rave culture. Self-serving drug user David (the actor) first robs an unconscious dealer, then in a later recollection tries to burgle his own parents. In no time, he's upside down in the remains of his car in a woodland – and subject to the angry eye of the Poacher (vocalist Jason Williamson). Declining to free David, with impatience toward city dwellers, he is a fractured society embodied: “You’re one of those noisy cunts from up on the heath.”
A Shaky Start and Darkly Funny Confrontation
The film begins uncertainly, lingering excessively on pedantically chronicling David’s attempt to extricate himself from his safety harness, while clumsily segueing into flashbacks of his normal activities. The bigger point – that the ecstasy generation were primarily out for number one – is clearly conveyed. But these brief episodes are too thin to adequately prepare us for what to expect when the Woodsman arrives, enraged after David kills his dog. Still, a grimly amusing duel takes hold – David eager to get away; the Woodsman withholding his jerrycan of cider, determined to soaking him instead in resentful talk. Williamson, projecting heavy threat in the role, is evocative of Michael Smiley.
Visual Flair and Music Video Vibe
There is only one key story turn, but it leads to a hilariously staged rampage on the forest trails that dips close to folk horror. Filmmaker John Minton finally gets to go all in with his ostentatious visuals: where he was focused intently doing impressionistic closeups of insects in the light in the early stages, he now lets rip with the full psychedelic 21-gun salute, soundtracked to a wild organ version of Ravel’s Boléro. The movie resembles an extended promo than a complete narrative, but there’s enough strident imagery to suggest that Minton could follow Jonathan Glazer, Garth Jennings and others into making the leap from the UK video industry.
The film releases in British and Irish theaters from November 17.
