Enys Men

Enys Men

Mark Jenkin's Enys Men is an overly arty, yet striking supernatural film. Set on a remote point in West Cornwall, the film portrays a fiftyish widow who lives a solitary existence recording botanical notes on local flora and fauna. There is no drama per se, but we see the memories, dreams and reflections that fill the woman's mind as she goes about her daily routine. 

There are a number of significant themes running through the film, perhaps too many. Jenkin's posits the standing stones of Britain's pagan heritage as a more true portal to the past than the Episcopalian Church, but the overall effect is academic rather than felt. The past is always present for our protagonist and Mary Woodvine's performance is as aptly uningratiating as the film itself. We see her visions of herself during her troubled youth and those of her dead husband. These traumas merge in her mind with the societal and ecological lacerations of bygone Cornwall, particularly its history as a tin mining center. The fissures and scars left on the land and its bodies are a recurring visual motif in the film.

The main theme of the film and the one best expressed by its visuals is that of ecological peril. Indeed, the film's publicity trumpeted the small carbon footprint of the production. The gorse, fescue, seaweed, lichens and other natural wonders of Cornwall are the real stars of the film and give the film a pantheistic tug. The film, shot on genuine 16mm Kodak, is beautiful in a Terrence Malick, the world in a grain of sand sort of way. However, what contrivances the script has to offer have been trotted out by the film's midpoint, leaving us a plodding and unsurprising film.

The film has a color scheme that underlines the ecological theme. Red is used for petroleum products, a too obvious instance of a director grabbing us by the lapels and exhorting us to stop. Furthermore, the film is overly indebted to Nicolas Roeg's Don't Look Now for its color scheme, an influence Jenkin is big enough to acknowledge. Jenkin has a director's eye and shows promise, but Enys Men makes me think he hasn't fully digested his influences.

Don't Look Now