Penda's Fen Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		4.0

Penda's Fen Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman September 27, 2022

Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as a part of All the Haunts Be Ours: A Compendium of Folk Horror.

All the Haunts Be Ours advertises itself as "the most comprehensive collection of its kind", which may initially beg the question as to "kind of what?". But the release also comes with a front cover sobriquet proclaiming it "a compendium of folk horror", which may then beg the next obvious question as to what exactly "folk horror" is. In that regard, this set begins with a fascinating and diverse documentary which has its own subtitle referencing folk horror, Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror, which provides a veritable glut of clips from international films which director (and this entire set's guiding light) Kier-La Janisse has assembled to help define the genre, but perhaps the best answer is to simply echo a certain Supreme Court Justice named Potter Stewart who was trying to decide a case involving supposed pornography, and who famously opined, "I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced within that shorthand description, and perhaps I could never succeed in intelligibly doing so. But I know it when I see it. . ."

The United Kingdom seems to breed its own peculiar kind of folklore and approaches toward it, as befits any great culture, and in that regard at least some aspects of the great Scottish folklorist Sir James George Frazier might echo a bit with Penda's Fen, a fascinating if perhaps slightly obtuse British teleplay from 1974. Frazier famously wrote The Golden Bough, which gave a kind of ClifNotes (albeit at several hundred pages) of ancient rites and beliefs and how they echoed throughout subsequent generations, while also essaying what Frazer saw as an "evolution" from magical superstitions to more formulaic religious tenets to actual rational thought courtesy of science.

Many Americans at least have probably never heard of the titular king of this piece, but he would have perhaps been seen as a "transitional figure" in Frazier's opus about the slow slog of human consciousness from the very earliest atavistic reactions to the natural world, to more nuanced conceptions of some kind of Divine Force suffusing reality, to actual formalized religions to Christianity. While Penda's medieval military exploits are probably most remembered these days, it may be his status as a defiant pagan in the face of encroaching Christianity that makes him at least one focus of the story. In this regard, then, it's perhaps ironic given the teleplay's title that Penda might take a back seat to both Stephen (Spencer Banks), the young British boy around whom this dense narrative is woven, and the legendary English composer Edward Elgar, who is arguably best remembered, rightly or wrongly, for that infamous Pomp And Circumstance March No. 1 In D which regularly sonically festoons graduation ceremonies.

Even saying that much (and/or little, as the case may be) probably gives as good an indication as any at how far flung this tale is, despite its relative brevity. Stephen, it turns out, is a vicar's son who is somewhat obsessed with the music of Elgar, and who, perhaps at least in part courtesy of that music, especially Elgar's setting of The Dream of Gerontius, begins having visions, which often include characters from England's pre-Christian past, which is where Penda and/or his fen come into play. Stephen is also at the age where he's questioning not only the religion he was brought up in, but also fundamental aspects of his own identity, all of which add up to a positively roiling emotional subtext which in and of itself would seem to subvert any hope for rationality to triumph. Though absolutely different in both content and tone, David Rudkin's teleplay kind of reminded me in a way of the works of Dennis Potter, at least insofar as both writers tend to liberally stuff content into their pieces without necessarily making everything rationally coherent, which of course probably only adds to their dreamlike qualities.

Penda's Fen Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Penda's Fen is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Severin Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.33:1. Severin's insert booklet states that this was "mastered in HD by the British Film Institute". While the absence of any mention of an element can be a warning sign at times (see my Anchoress Blu-ray review for one example), in this case there's nothing major to be concerned about, and in fact for an archival television production, Penda's Fen often looks quite striking, especially in some of the absolutely gorgeous vistas that really show off some of the more sylvan areas of England. Color temperature can vary slightly at times, wafting a bit from warmer to cooler and then back again, but on the whole the palette is nicely suffused and natural looking. Detail levels shine best in midrange and close-up shots, and while fine detail in particular may diminish in some of the wide framings, depth of field is often quite good. My score is 3.75.

Penda's Fen Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Penda's Fen features a nicely robust DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono track that has no problems handling everything from Elgar's music being blasted in a boy's bedroom (hey, some kids are weird) to quiet passages with only the rustling of leaves in an English valley environment being offered. Music, sound effects and dialogue are all rendered without any issues. Optional English subtitles are available.

Penda's Fen Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary with James Machin and Matthew Harle, Editors of The Book of Mud & Flame: The Penda's Fen Sourcebook


• The Landscape of Feelings - The Road to Penda's Fen (HD; 16:30) is a well done BFI overview.


• Short Film - The Pledge (HD; 21:42) is by Digby Rumsey.

Penda's Fen Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Penda's Fen is one of several relatively unknown films collected in All the Haunts Be Ours which I'm sure will strike viewers as absolutely provocative and unique, if not always strictly comprehensible. Technical merits are generally solid, and the commentary in particular is very well done. Recommended.