Enys Men [DVD + Blu-ray]

Product Information

Enys Men was released in UK cinemas by BFI Distribution on 13 January 2023 and recently opened in the USA via Neon. Cover Notes: A wildlife volunteer's daily observations of a rare flower take a dark turn into the strange and metaphysical, forcing both her and viewers to question what is real and what is nightmare. For much of the film, the soundstage is mostly in the front speakers, with surrounds used for ambience, but occasionally there is more use of those surrounds, for example a helicopter near the end of the film. As that subtitle indicates, this is in eleven subsections and Fowler tackles the films use of folk-horror elements but also its subversion of our expectations and its breakdown of a conventional narrative.

People – a man, a young woman, some girls singing (the Cornish-language song “Kan Me”, which is also performed by its composer, Gwenno, during the end credits) – appear without warning.That folk horror comes from the film’s, and its maker’s Cornish heritage, a part of the country with its own ancient language and almost an island with the river Tamar not quite cutting it off from the rest of the English mainland. Judah’s essay elucidates the film – though, with this one, your interpretation may differ – pointing up the use of ritual elements and the view of the natural world from which the film’s stranger elements erupt. Haunters of the Deep (1984, 61 mins): a Children’s Film Foundation adventure that shares many of the same West Cornwall locations as Enys Men, and made quite an impression on its director. Meanwhile, Amy and Josh meet Captain Tregellis (Andrew Keir) who warns that reopening the mine will lead to disaster. Special features on the Dual Format Edition include an audio commentary by Mark Jenkin and Mark Kermode, recently filmed interviews, two complementary archival films and more.

Immediately, it’s apparent that Jenkin has embraced camera imperfections such as light flares at the side of the frame, and the gorgeous grainy texture suggests the 1970s perfectly – it’s set in 1973, which is perhaps coincidentally the year that The Wicker Man was released in Britain in a double bill with Don’t Look Now.The modest, personable Jenkin provides audio diaries as lockdown postpones Enys Men and a third film is written, considers sound with Peter Strickland and is interviewed with Woodvine. An ancient, healing hymn sung by a ghost vicar (John Woodvine) makes this widespread, culturally profound loss cohere. As I say above, occasional splices, scratches and light bleed are not bugs but features of this film. He picks out some influences and references in Enys Men, from Blood on Satan’s Claw to The Shout (shots of the Volunteer and the Boatman screaming) and those public information films which traumatised a generation of schoolchildren, and details some of the film’s time slippage: not only the radio announcement from the future mentioned above but also twenty-first-century music playing over that radio. That said, he does talk a lot about the themes of the films, such as the coexistence of past and present and future, but some of the non-linearity is due to making use of what he had available when he came to edit the film.

The Duchy of Cornwall is a documentary which has been exempted from certification, but carried a U on its cinema release in 1938. Those similarities are considerable – after just these two features, it’s hard to mistake Jenkin’s work for anyone else’s – but they do end. Haunters of the Deep in many ways follows the template of many other CF(T)F films, with youngsters of both sexes so as to appeal to both sexes in the audience. Enys Men brings across thoughts about the relationship between ourselves and the land and the history that the land itself contains.

Then there’s the amazingly creepy score, composed by Jenkin himself, along with the appearance of folk tunes, which are often just eerie enough by themselves. These images, formed at an impressionable age stayed with me, and some nights, even now, I find myself lying awake, wondering about those stones. Folk horror is a genre that has become ever more popular in recent times, after originally being established in the 1970s with films like The Wicker Man and Blood on Satan’s Claw.

A wildlife volunteer’s (Mary Woodvine) daily observations of a rare flower take a dark turn into the strange and metaphysical, forcing both her and viewers to question what is real and what is nightmare. The sound department is an often overlooked part of a film crew, so an item like this is invaluable. As May Day, the anniversary of a local lifeboat disaster, approaches, changes begin to happen in the flowers.Enys Men is a dual-format release from the BFI, comprising a Region B Blu-ray (a checkdisc of which was supplied for review) and a Region 2 PAL DVD, Enys Men has a 15 certificate. Also included is a booklet featuring a fine set of essays on the film, as well as a director’s statement from Jenkin. Both, though, were filmed silently on a vintage 16mm Bolex clockwork camera with sound added afterwards during the editing process. The film has been brought to Blu-ray by the British Film Institute in an excellent package with many thoughtful features.