Film Analysis: Band Frontman Jason Williamson Assumes Role in Critical Examination at Ecstasy Generation Era
Produced by Portishead co-founder Geoff Barrow, this scabrous though slight first film casts a critical gaze on the ecstasy-fueled club scene. Venal drug user David (Marc Bessant) first robs an unconscious dealer, then in another flashback tries to break into his own parents. 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). Refusing to extricate David, with no time for townies, he is a fractured society personified: “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 meticulously detailing David’s attempt to extricate himself from his safety harness, while clumsily segueing into past scenes of his normal activities. The bigger point – that the ecstasy generation were mainly focused on themselves – is firmly made. But these vignettes are insufficiently developed to properly prime us for what to expect when the Poacher turns up, enraged after David kills his dog. Nevertheless, a grimly amusing standoff takes hold – David eager to get away; the Woodsman withholding his jerrycan of scrumpy, intent on soaking him instead in resentful talk. Williamson, exuding heavy threat in the role, is reminiscent of Michael Smiley.
Visual Flair and Promo-Inspired Sensibility
There is only one important plot development, but it results in a comically executed 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 bugs in headlights in the opening part, he now goes all out with the full lysergic grand display, accompanied by a wild organ version of Ravel’s Boléro. Game feels more like an extended promo than a fully fledged drama, but there’s enough strident imagery to suggest that Minton could follow Jonathan Glazer, Garth Jennings and others into making the leap from the Brit music promo scene.
Game is in British and Irish cinemas from November 17.
