I like to approach a film cold. No trailers, no TV spots, no promos, no write-ups, no interviews that might bias the viewing (trailers are usually selling a different/better movie anyway – take a bow The Happening and Battle: Los Angeles). But sometimes this approach can work against you. Had I had an inkling about what was in store with By Our Selves I might have been more patient. Might. Here’s the virtual experience for those uninitiated with the subject matter:
A dishevelled and confused-looking Toby Jones wanders about fields and up and down motorways. He observes buildings and placards and people. He looks like he can’t make sense of anything, like a man out of time. Following him are figures in pagan masks who lurk under trees. There are snatches of readings from what sounds like letters, journals and poems – some sound like stream of consciousness drivel, other lines are of clarity and beauty - with different voices competing for voiceover to heighten Jones’ confusion and inner turmoil. To further distort the time and place, the soundtrack has faint echoes of glitch, drone and field recordings (former Pogues man Jem Finer involved).
There is a full thirteen minutes of this before the following greets the viewer:
"On Tuesday 20th July, 1841, John Clare walked out of the asylum in Epping Forest and up to Northamptonshire. He was searching for his lost love Mary Joyce, three years dead. He arrived four days later having walked over eighty miles. The film is inspired by these events."
Ahh! So By Our Selves is a loose re-enactment of the 19th century poet’s journey. But director Andrew Kotting makes no attempt to be so on the nose, instead updating the trek to today and then ensuring the march is to the beat of its own drum. Not content with the dreamy Lynchian atmosphere, Kotting, complete with one of the pagan masks, stops everything mid stride to sit on a bench and interview Clare scholar Simon Koveski, complete with boxing gloves. At one point a passer-by stops a mid-scene Jones to ask what the hell he’s up to. The style can be off-putting but it is unique.
John Clare aficionados will get more out this. Those unaccustomed to Clare’s life and writings but who fancy a bit will do well to read up beforehand.
