At the moment two of the UK’s most interesting and talented directors are putting the finishing touches to their next projects: A Field in England is Ben Wheatley’s fourth feature, which he describes as “a mad piece of filmmaking” that follows a group of soldiers deserting from a battle during the English Civil War. Meanwhile, Dexter Fletcher is editing Sunshine on Leith, the follow up to his fantastic debut, Wild Bill. We caught up with both Fletcher and Wheatley on the red carpet at this weekend’s Empire Awards.
“It’s not a straight-up historical document” explained Wheatley, “I wouldn’t fancy my chances in Q&As with a load of dons from Oxford. It’s a little bit about magic, a bit about psychedelia, you have to see it really. It’s difficult, there’s no elevator pitch for A Field in England. I don’t know how they’re going to bill it in the radio times with a little photograph of Reece Shearsmith.“
And it’s not just A Field in England that centres around military conflict, as Fletcher revealed, “The film opens in Afghanistan, we’re looking at a couple of guys coming home from a big major conflict and trying to fit back in to their life. Aside from the fun stuff of the music – because it’s the Proclaimers, the nature of their songs are fairly contentious, they’re not so throwaway and lightweight, so to just do something that’s all fluffy and rosy wouldn’t do service to the songs really. So we’re dealing with a couple of guys who are looking to find their way back into their world, and how to fit back in after being part of a conflict, and our songs lend themselves to that. So once they get back they start sussing it out.”
He followed by giving an indication of how far along the project is, “It’s a great process the edit. You don’t have a lot of time, I had more time than I had on Wild Bill. I had six weeks on Wild Bill, I had ten weeks on this, it’s an absolute luxury. It’s getting there by the day, and as soon as [DNA] are happy to [screen it], I’m happy. Which I think is a mark of how well I think it’s working, because I’m ready to show people, but ultimately it’s not my decision.”
We’re expecting both films to be screened at festivals this year (in fact, I’m going to state right now that if Sunshine on Leith doesn’t premiere at Edinburgh I will eat my hat, shoes, coat and scarf). And it’s quite likely they’ll be released in time for us to catch Fletcher and Wheatley walking up the carpet at next year’s Empire Awards.
