Whistle and I'll Come to You

The most disturbing aspect of this wonderful film is that, forty years on, the chances of seeing a production as ethereal or one that demands so much from the viewer on 'mainstream' television, as this was in May 1968, is nil.

In 1968, works by Harold Pinter, Dennis Potter and remarkable one-offs like this were commonplace on British television, but now we all live in a Michael Jackson/Madonna/computer-generated imagery theme park. Jolly good!

Alas, the BBC of the 21st Century, the 'Brave New World', would be frightened out of their wits (more than the Professor) to attempt anything as uncompromising as 'Whistle And I'll Come To You'.

After all.......nothing happens. And where's the dire soundtrack, where are the darting camera tricks, the clawing sentimentality and, anyway, might it not offend somebody?

Try 'pitching' this to someone at Broadcasting House in 2009 and see where it gets you.

Sad, isn't it.

I have read partisan levels of division on this notorious short. I will add my view to the debate.

The 'success' of the piece, if that's what garners acclaim or opprobrium depending on your perspective, is for me in the images that linger long after the film itself finishes. Most films finish and you think, just.....nothing. Nothing stays with you - nothing comes back to you, it's just THERE. Here however, for me, odd moments return to the mind's eye and can have an unsettling effect, as if the director (shackled now to being a 'cultural' stereotype of the highest order who will polarise opinion faster than you can say Melvyn Bragg) knew that these few images were what would remain, and this only - the beach and the claustrophobic room. It's appealing to childhood fears - there's someone there at the door who will help you. There's someone there...you're OK, or are you? You're on the beach. You notice it, you feign ignorance, you know, you fear, you think it's after someone else. No, it's after you. It could be Hemingway, couldn't it?

I think this is the real essence of horror. No horror film will be bedecked with 90 minutes or so of abject terror, that's not the idea. The zeitgeist is in what stays after, weeks, months, sometimes years after, moments when you have to relieve yourself in the night, walk downstairs in the dark, conjuring up some half baked idea that there's someone/thing 'in the room' - at moments like this, which, let's face it we all have and are now trying to deny, images of Hordern on the beach, with that THING behind him, will leave you wondering if it will come closer, and, more worryingly, if it will come for YOU, my friends....

"Whistle and I'll Come to You" is a real oddity.

This video was released by the BFI as part of its new Archive TV series along with "The Stone Tape". While "The Stone Tape" is instantly accessible sci-fi drama this is a different story altogether.

Written by M.R. James, "Whistle" tells the rather sad story of a bachelor lecturer who enjoys a holiday by the sea. While out on his travels, the man comes across an old wooden whistle which he proceeds to blow. From this point forward his nights are restless, his dreams full of weird visions of something chasing him.

This paranormal drama is well directed by Johnathan Miller on wonderfully grainy 16mm film. Indeed the stock is so scratchy as to render the sheet, chasing the professor along the beach, almost unrecognisable.

Michael Horden's wonderfully understated performance complements the stark, dreary beach scenes very well. Horden, playing here an introverted bachelor with no capacity for conversation, is a revelation, particularly in the chilling final scene which cleverly mixes slow-mo film with distorted sound effects.

"Whistle" certainly takes a while to get used to. In this day and age, a film with such a slow pace would never get released and it's more or less over before it's started, but give it a shot and watch and re-watch to appreciate this mysterious gem.

Professor Parkins (Michael Hordern) is a bookish intellectual academic, who craves solitude, he books in to a remote hotel by the English coast, frequented by holidaying golfers. He isn't very interested in the hotel staff or the other guests and barely recognizes they are there, due to his very deep thinking processes. He flat out and rather rudely rejects an offer to play a round of golf from a breakfast guest, instead mumbling that he has better plans. These plans involve a good brisk walk, a stroll on the beach and a visit to the local cemetery, stopping only to partake of a jolly old packed lunch. Parkins is at home uncovering the long abandoned graveyard, removing the moss and reading the names of centuries old locals, he stops every so often to sit in the nearby sand dunes, eating a sandwich and generally looking about and taking in the sights, all the time seemingly enjoying his inaudible conservations with himself. On one of these trips, he finds an old artefact covered in mud and sand, he brings it back to his room and after cleaning it, finds that it is a whistle with a Latin inscription on it, which translates as "Whom is this that is coming" to which Parkins flippantly replies, "let's blow it and see" Almost immediately Parkins becomes aware of unsettling noises amidst the sudden wind that blows outside. He dismisses them at settles down to sleep for the night.

The following morning over breakfast he gets into a discussion on the existence of ghosts with the same cordial guest he has spoken to before. Parkins revels in upping the ante by intellectualising the conversation and the argument, sitting back in his chair he is arrogant and impressed with his own adept skill at debunking the conventions of the supernatural.

Back on the beach, he spots a solitary stationary figure, he repeatedly looks back in the figures direction and its lack of movement seems to startle Parkins, who scurries back to the hotel. His sleep is now becoming unsettled and sporadic, as strange noises and rustlings waken him every so often. As well as this he is having terrifying dreams of being chased, that haunt his every sleeping moment. As an academic he struggles to come to terms with these unexplainable irregularities.

This is another fine M.R.James adaptation of his 1904 work Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad, this time adapted by all round talent Jonathan Miller. Miller's introduction tells us that this is a ghost story but that it is primarily a moral tale, a warning against intellectualism, that tells us, those who crave solitude can miss out on seeing the whole picture and do so at their own peril. This is very much reflected in this haunting tale. Parkins is very much wrapped up in his work and his own head, that his committal to science and fact, blinds him to the dangers he is in, with devastating consequences. Ghost stories tend to work best in black and white and Miller wisely chooses monochrome to present his work. In tone, it is very reminiscent of other genre classics like The Innocents, I even detected some Chiaroscuro visuals that would not look out of place in a Lang film. Miller's main device is to keep the dialogue to a minimum, this has a very unsettling effect on the viewer, as during these pauses, we scan Parkin's very still bedroom for a visual image to add to the horrifying noises we hear, as such the terrors are in our head, as we await a chilling moment, that may or may not be revealed. Like most of James's works, the film is notable for it slow pace and attention to detail, there are no lazy jump scares here, so when the spectral figure does eventually appear, the simplicity of its execution is quite terrifying and I can honestly say it did make my hair stand on end, I haven't been this unsettled in quite some time.

Hordern a fine stage and screen actor, is excellent as the forgetful and withdrawn professor, his constant conversations with himself and his inaudible indecipherable mumblings, can become a little irritating, but they are perfectly suited to the character, in any case proper audible and probably irrelevant dialogue might just have distracted from the great doom laden atmosphere that slowly builds. As Ghost stories go this is superb, mumblings aside, its damn near perfect.

Professor Parkins travels to a remote guest house on the English coast to be able to continue to find peace and quiet for his studies and contemplations. Enjoying his daily walks out onto the cliffs and dunes, Parkins finds himself lost in thought regularly, stimulated in part by lively discussions each morning with another guest over what is a remarkably good breakfast. As his stay continues though, he starts to lose himself more and more into his own thoughts and existence.

A strange film this one. Repeated recently as part of BBC4's ghost story season of films running up to Christmas, it is preceded by a rather dry introduction due to it having originally been part of the Omnibus series of films back in the sixties. From here on in nothing much happens, which is pretty much the point. We see Parkins become more and more isolated within himself and the suggestion is that there is another presence which is assisting him in this but it isn't totally clear. In this regard I found the film a little frustrating but what saved it was the atmosphere and delivery.

In this regard it is very strong and quite creepy. Instead of being about ghosts it is actually about Parkins' mind as he struggles to deal with the things he experiences at the edge of consciousness. This is shown in the final shot and, although a tad dull, it does make for an engaging subject. The scares are a credit to the delivery because they come from little more than sound effects and lighting. Parkins is chased on a beach by little more than a loose sheet and it is very eerie, while the final haunting is just creepy. Hordern's performance is key and he nails it throughout, slipping more into absent mindedness and visibly struggling with himself. The direction is also strong but for me it is Hordern that makes it.

Overall a dull but yet rewarding ghost story. The focus on Parkins' mind is interesting and the simple scares are well delivered to maximise their impact; slow it may be but it is still engaging stuff.