Outline
The 2018 movie London Fields, directed by Mathew Cullen, is a contemporary neo-noir mystery thriller based on a book written in 1989 by an English author, Martin Amis. The film captures the audience’s attention with its unique portrayal of London’s dystopian vision where societal cynicism and apocalyptic undertones serve as the backdrop to a complex story filled with seduction, manipulation, and murder that is planned in advance.
The core storyline focuses on Nicola Six (Amber Heard), a stunning and mysterious clairvoyant who has shockingly lived with the knowledge of her own murder. Although she doesn’t know who the killer will be, it is clear to her that her death is unavoidable and someone she closely knows is bound to commit the murder. Instead of running from her fate, Nicola becomes infatuated with death and does everything in her power to invite it. She strategically becomes involved with three remarkably different men, any one of whom could be her eventual murderer.
First is Guy Clinch (Theo James), an aristocrat who, like his peers, possesses copious amounts of wealth. Their insecurities stem from a profound lack of parental guidance. Next, w e have Keith Talent (Jim Sturgess), an aggressive working-class darts player with a penchant for violence alongside latent criminal tendencies. Finally, there is the terminally ill American writer, Samson Young (Billy Bob Thornton). He has recently moved into Nicola’s London building and struggles with a nagging writer’s block.
He serves as the protagonist and gatekeeper for the viewers. A s the film unfolds, it’s clear he becomes obsessed with Nicola and the dark, seductive aura she exudes. This ultimately leads him to creating what he hopes will be his final book, which would compel audiences with depth. In the process of embracing Nicola and those whom she lures into her web, he denies himself complete reliability, utterly dismissing any chance authenticity of what he’s created. In the end, this spirals into a dangerous preoccupation with the line that blurs between being an observer and a pawn in the puppet show he’s trying to document.
In the latter half, the plot progresses in a disjointed, almost surreal manner. Nicola emerges not so much as a victim but more like a femme fatale, a woman of the world who knows how to play it, steering people around her with the knowledge of what lies ahead. All three men are in some way compelled towards her — with one being captivated, another being hopeful, and a final one being ambitious — but in equal measure to loathe her too. With London on the edge of a societal breakdown, the climax of Nicola’s psychological foreplay and emotional torment reaches a cataclysmic explosive peak. The enigma of who will end up being her actual killer acts as the underlying tension throughout the film, which ends in a dramatic self-destructive manner.
The film tries to tackle the questions surrounding one’s fate versus their free will, the perverse eye of storytelling and the moral degradation that exists within art and love. To a certain extent all of these ideas are present within the movie, but often weaved together in the wrong manner, losing precision in execution due to frenetic pacing, stylized visuals, and incoherence.
Cast & crew
Amber Heard as Nicola Six
Across the board, Amber appeared to play NADIA SIX. EVERYONE agreed on the fact that she performed the role with a cold distance added to the sultry charm that is quintessential to a noir anti-heroine. Some critics did not like the lack of emotional subtlety in some parts of her acting.
Billy Bob Thornton as Samson Young
Thornton’s portrayal as the ailing writer who is now a voyeuristic chronicler is both pensive and tired, deeply contemplating within himself. His voiceover framing both remarks and poses a riddle on questions regarding the narration’s reliability and hidden agenda.
Jim Sturgess as Keith Talent
Sturgess infuses laughable zeal and ominous thrill into Keith Talent. His role is base, brimming with violence, and rash — strikingly different from the other male supporting actors — making him both a suspect and a trump card in Nicola’s dangerous game.
Theo James as Guy Clinch
James casts Guy Clinch as being well-meaning yet emotionally vulnerable, ripe for manipulation. His performance captures a sense of doomed innocence.
Cara Delevingne as Kath Talent
Supporting Delevingne plays the role of Keith’s wife, escalating Keith’s violent tendencies further.
Director: Mathew Cullen
Cullen, infamous for his work in music videos, uses his style in the film, unlike the other directors who retain stagnant camera angles. His highly sophisticated style includes complex images, frantic shirkers, and splendid cuts which time often conflicts with the dark, mysterious nature and advanced storyline of the film.
Adaptation: Script by Roberta Hanley and novel by Martin Amis
Amis’s book is considered to be one of his most difficult works, and its multi-layered and self-referential approach made it challenging to adapt into a film. The film clearly has subdivisions which try to retain the novel’s postmodern tone, but ends up fighting for coherence.
Cinematographic works by: Guillermo Navarro
Navarro’s work is striking and at times dreamlike, heavily focusing on shadows, neon lights, and symoblic imagery. Even with the narrative falling short, Navarro’s work will continue to stand out.
Invigorating the film with a noir feel, Barber’s score, like his moody orchestration and contemporary pieces, reflects the film’s gritty and dystopian atmosphere.
Reception and Critical Response:
Walking away without fully appreciating the merits of the film is something that cannot be said about the London Fields critics, who, upon its release, found themselves panning it on all counts. Such low ratings on aggregator sites stemmed from the shallow character development, failure to grasp the source material’s intricateness, and an overall bewildering narrative.
Completely missing the outline of a top-level issue is something most critics would shy away from, and for this particular case, that outline stems from the breath of coherence the film manages to bring within its story. Expressionistic excesses paired alongside an unreliable narration paired with non-linear ordering of the plot makes the film from the frameworks of the book a tad too challenging to digest . The heart of the problem, which was believed to be garnering any real suspense through the character of Nicola and her murderer, projected motivations often dismembered from coherent character reasoning.
The acting by Jim Sturgess and Billy Bob Thornton has had some positive criticism, but the others were seen as bland or uncreative. Amber Heard’s performance as Nicola Six was described as stunning – albeit far too preoccupied with unfeeling expressions. This greatly affected the film’s emotional and thematic anchors.
Additional conflicts surrounding the film only served to worsen its reception. Litigation between the director and producers, coupled with claims of a problematic production process, resulted in several contemporary and depandant stagnations as well as limited releases in the market. Although the movie has its premiere set for the Toronto International Film Festival in 2015, the movie remained absent in theaters until 2018. This evident lack of ‘window’ to showcase the movie often indicates artistic strife and conflict in internal creativity.
Conclusion
Between London Fields’ 2018 release, the film served as an overhyped adaptation accompanied with a blend of stylistic imaginations and intricate narrative pacing. Contrary to its goal as a deep dive into the concept of destiny sizzling romance, portraying elements of narrative-driven surrounding pervading, it turned into a visually compelling, fragmented, and thematically shallow experience.
Even with an acclaimed cast and an equally acclaimed novel to lean on, the movie’s problematic story development and troubled production made its narrative virtually absent, earning it scathing reviews and no profit. For those who appreciate noir and intelligent thrillers, London Fields might still be interesting from a stylistic standpoint, but for everyone else the movie serves as a disturbing example of the pitfalls stemming from complex literature adaptations.
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