Game Review: Band Frontman Jason Williamson Assumes Role in Sceptical Examination at Ecstasy Generation Era
The work of Portishead co-founder Geoff Barrow, this sharp-edged though slight debut feature casts a critical gaze on the ecstasy-fueled club scene. Venal pillhead David (Marc Bessant) first robs an unconscious dealer, then in another flashback tries to break into his own family home. In no time, he's overturned in the wreckage of his car in a forest – and subject to the wrathful eye of the Poacher (vocalist Jason Williamson). Declining to free David, with impatience toward city dwellers, he is broken Britain embodied: “You’re one of those loud individuals from up on the heath.”
A Shaky Start and Grimly Amusing Confrontation
The film begins uncertainly, spending too long on pedantically chronicling David’s attempt to free himself from his safety harness, while awkwardly transitioning into past scenes of his everyday life. The central theme – that the ecstasy generation were primarily out for number one – is firmly made. But these brief episodes are too thin to adequately prepare us for what to expect when the Woodsman turns up, enraged after David kills his dog. Still, a darkly funny standoff takes hold – David desperate to escape; the Woodsman denying his container of cider, determined to soaking him instead in embittered discourse. Williamson, exuding ponderous menace in the role, is evocative of Michael Smiley.
Stylish Imagery and Promo-Inspired Vibe
Just a single key story turn, but it results in a comically executed rampage on the forest trails that veers toward folk horror. Filmmaker John Minton at last unleashes with his ostentatious visuals: where he was hunkered down doing impressionistic closeups of insects in the light in the early stages, he now goes all out with the full psychedelic grand display, soundtracked to a frenzied keyboard rendition of Ravel’s Boléro. The movie resembles an elongated music video than a complete narrative, but there’s enough strident imagery to suggest that Minton could follow Jonathan Glazer, Garth Jennings et al into making the leap from the Brit music promo scene.
Game is in UK and Irish cinemas from November 17.
