Arcadia

This was my shot-in-the-dark purchase at the Leeds International Film Festival. From what I read on the synopsis, it sounded like a documentary. But it was more like a feature film using lots of unseen archive footage.

It's only 1hr 18mins long and it was fascinating watching lots of old footage of various British activities such as farming, celebrating some of more obscure hobbies or festivals such as Morris dancing, maypole, the famous cheese roll at Coopers Hill. But was most fascinating, was the directors presentation.

To me, it felt like the director was showing the different sides of British society through the ages with religious tones told in a way similar to a fever dream. Seeing it done in that way makes me think that this director needs to collaborate with Darren Aronofsky in future projects as the aggressive nature to this reminded of things like 'Requiem For A Dream' and 'Mother!'.

But I think the main theme was showing how our society has treated are landscape and rural areas over time, which was book-ended by a character witnessing all of this from afar.

Whilst showing signs of some of Aronofsky's previous works, it also reminded of a film called Baraka that is a collection of clips showing human life and religion around the world.

While that was a more impressive presentation, this was still a enjoyable yet unique experience. I liked it's almost haunting way of showing its images with the accompanying score. It was presented in an almost aggressive manner, which could put people off as the director seems to be shoving his message down our threats.