Alix Turner
It was difficult to know what to expect from Game: the opening film of the festival (I’ve seen a couple of very strong openers, and a couple less so); and audiences had been told there are “local connections” to Nottingham, which might have meant the city’s genre film festival was promoting well known talent, rather than quality. Then as the film itself opened with Wellington-booted feet following a pheasant through a lush forest, I couldn’t help wondering how this was going to turn out to be a thriller. Tension came soon after, though, and the film as a whole was definitely rewarding.
Game takes place in the early 90s, and the setting is indeed a forest, not far from a heath where a pop-up rave has been held just the night before. So it’s not the middle-of-nowhere, but (like Leave No Trace) it’s far enough away from civilisation that it feels like it; this is especially the case for David (played by Marc Bessant, also co-writer), who is injured in a car, hanging upside down by a seat-belt, having crashed after a hasty departure from said rave. A significant portion of the film takes place with him in that state, and it was remarkable how Minton added suspense (excuse the pun!) while also keeping the pace patient and restrained. For many hours, David struggles to free himself and cries out for rescue, of course… and then along comes a dog, and his owner (played by Jason Williamson, his big screen debut), and everything changes.
This is John Minton’s first feature film as a director, having largely made music videos and documentaries to date; and it’s an excellent debut. The film’s tonal journey – from a tense/casual blend to downright suspenseful, then humorous, all with just a hint of social commentary – is deftly managed. So, too, is the neat pairing of the two characters: they are both almost contrasting archetypes of Britain at the time of the film, and perfect opponents in a more-dialogue-than-action film.
The cinematography from Ross James is intimately done, with plenty of close-ups to both characters and vibrant flora and fauna, which adds to the microcosm feel of the film as a whole. Game is James’ first film as director of photography, too; I’m more impressed with the film the more I read about it! At times, the aftermath of David’s car crash is broken up with brief flashes of his life before; and later, the view of the forest intercut with a drugged-up perspective as church and battlefield (some of which brought to mind Ben Wheatley’s In the Earth and A Field in England. What caught me most by surprise, visually, though were all the animals, which belied the label “thriller”: the film gave us gentle, often close views of the forest’s inhabitants, demonstrating just how out-of-place David had become.
On the surface, Game is simply a film about conflict and survival, though displacement and changes in society are very much themes across the whole piece: David is adrift in life, not quite belonging in his family, seemingly unable to settle into a working lifestyle, and even just wandering through his chosen music scene. Likewise, the poacher seems to have turned to his lifestyle after the Falklands “conflict” (I wonder what his employment might have been without that service), and finds no place in wider society. The evolution in the music scene in the nineties was most definitely an influence (as well as a narrative backdrop) in Game: Jason Williamson is one half of the working class post-punk band Sleaford Mods, and producer/composer Geoff Barrow was well known at that time for his founding role in the band Portishead (as well as more recently scoring films such as Alex Garland’s Annihilation). Much of Game’s soundtrack is a fitting pulsing electro; though both main characters’ parts in a comedic chase scene are quite incongruous against the background of Ravel’s Bolero.
Overall, there is much to admire in Game: it kept me gripped throughout, amused in appropriate moments, shocked here and there, and had a strangely satisfying ending. On top of all that, showed me a snapshot of British social history I had been barely aware of at the time.
Minton and the team are touring regional cinemas with the film over the coming weeks: track it down if you get the chance.
