A Year In A Field — A Year In A Field( Blu Ray)
A Year in A Field, subtitled A Quiet Film, is a 2023 documentary film by Christopher Morris (Fog of Sex: Stories from the Frontline of Student Sex Work, My Life and 3 Minutes of Torture).
Christopher Morris films a field near his home in Cornwall every day for a year, from the Winter Solstice 2020 to the Winter Solstice 2021. It just so happens that in this field is St Breock Longstone, a 10-foot-tall lichen-encrusted granite monolith. It was erected over 4,000 years ago by persons unknown; Morris describes the builders as an alien civilisation, not as in the extraterrestrial type, but more as being out of time. The builders are lost to time, and the meaning behind erecting the menhir in the first place is also unknown.
The film aims to draw attention to the major issue of climate change happening all around us. Morris talks about the effects of pollution and climate change and how they directly affect the field and its surroundings. He discusses pollution from aircraft, seagoing vessels, and litter, among other sources. He uses whatever is there to highlight how even things that happen halfway around the world have an impact on this one field in Cornwall.
The cinematography by Morris himself is simply stunning and features some beautiful shots of nature in all her glory. The whole documentary is a beautiful, thoughtful piece that wants the viewer to understand just how much impact the various types of pollution can have on even the most rural of locations. There is a quiet, meditative quality to the film that draws the viewer in and keeps them watching until the end. The purpose of the film is vitally important, and Morris uses scientific facts to show us both the positives of what is happening in the field (plant growth and photosynthesis) and the negatives (the litter choking our plants and filling up our rural spaces). The whole thing is topped off with some perfectly curated music that adds to the chilled, meditative atmosphere and feels most appropriate.
On the surface, the field seems almost untouched by mankind’s destruction of our ecosystem; however, the deeper one looks, the more we see how these things have a huge impact on even these most rural of spaces. Christopher Morris has produced a smart, intelligent, thoughtful film that needs to be seen and understood.
This rather lovely new release from Spectacular Optical/ Severin comes with some rather wonderful bonus material including Morris’s short Kestav (2023) and Adam Scovell’s rather wonderful Holloway from 2015. There is also an introduction to the film with director Morris, a conversation with Morris and producer Denzil Monk, Paranormal in the West Country, a Q and A and more. On top of that, we get a rather sturdy and attractive slipcase that is beautifully designed.
Overall, this is a lovely release for a remarkable, slow film that deserves to be seen by everyone who cares about the planet on which we live. Christopher Morris has produced something that not only feels like an important part of our cultural heritage but also an important indictment of the way the planet is being devastated by wars, pollution and its mistreatment by governments and regimes who fail to understand the long-term implications of what they are doing to us all.