Second viewing; first viewed on September 9, 1990
Alternate spelling: The Navigator: A Mediaeval Odyssey
A group of people from a village in Northern England, during the Middle Ages, is scared of the Plague. Led by a boy, they hope to ward it off by placing a metal cross on the top of a big church. To get there, they follow a subterranean path which they are told will lead them to the far side of the Earth.
I was greatly disappointed at my experience of viewing this film for the second time. Its story runs entirely (as far as I remember) by night, which makes for almost exclusively dark scenes. Furthermore, it is not directed for clarity. All this makes for an often rather enigmatic visual experience. The screenplay is not especially engaging either: the two concepts it plays with (medieval existential drama and time travel) seem arbitrarily pasted together and not given proper individual development. The film has been generally well received, and this must have an explanation; considering that I also gave it a good rating on my first viewing, I probably have this explanation within me somewhere, if only I could remember how I felt and what I thought 25 years ago. Speaking of which, I was quite spooked by the exact coincidence of the dates of my viewings, more so for it happening with a film as charged with mysticism as this.
Rating: 42 (down from 62)
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