Enys Men, 2022
This is a British experimental folk terrifying movie shot, written, directed and composed by Mark Jenkin. The movie was shot when the lockdown of COVID-19 virus was at its peak, and the crew makes it the main concern to make a little carbon footprint during the production.
Cast Lists
Mary Woodvine acted as The Volunteer
Flo Crowe acted as The Girl
Edward Rowe acted as The Boatman
John Woodvine acted as The Preacher
Joe Gray acted as The Miner
Loveday Twomlow acted as The Baby
Plot
The movie was set in 1973 on an uninhabited island off a Cornish coast, the daily observations of the wildlife volunteer of an unusual turn to a metaphysical trip that forces her and the viewer too in asking what is nightmare and what is real.
The only trait that suggests the continuous, although highly sped up, run of time had been the appearance of the fruticose lichen increasing on the flowers in more than three days, and at the same time on the body of the protagonist. She had the nebulous connection with the sinister standing stone, the teenage girl who can possibly be her younger self or her daughter, the mysterious preacher who can be her father, the compilation of ghostly miners that haunted the tunnels of the island, and her only human contact, the fisherman who she will once had been falling in love with.
Writer’s Opinion
Enys Men had beautiful shots, interesting atmosphere, unsettling tone and a great zooms. But what will you get when you’ll have beautiful shots, interesting atmosphere and great zooms without the full story? You had great pictures of a real photographer.
The great filmmaking attributes will not add up to anything without the story. And it is true that there is a ghost tale here….but barely. It is 100% based on metaphor and symbol. Never go with full metaphor. The viewers are caring and experimental films are adorable. Persona is a great movie ever made, but there are so many layers, also there is depth to the ideas and the characters that had been exploring on the peak of the abstract moviemaking. Mark Jenkin showed here that he will direct. But he showed also that he does not have any idea of writing. If he can discover that, something worthwhile will happen.
An irritatingly dull and frustrating scene that appears to hint in so many interesting ideas that will not develop in any means, and the bait is admirable and while this utilizes the same aesthetic it lacks everything that is approaching a story, depth or character development. It is also mind numbingly dull.
There are other reviews that say that that person may not “get” what the film is really saying. If that is the case, then for heaven’s sake, please give us enlightenment on what is to understand there instead of smugly pontificating. If the movie requires some prior comprehension about the ‘Cornish culture’ to comprehend with what is really happening on, someone needed to revise it before others can watch it.
