Mark Jenkin's Enys Men on Blu-ray/DVD and BFI Player in May
14 April 2023
Critically acclaimed mind-bending folk horror, Enys Men, set in 1973, unfolds atmospherically on an unpopulated island off the Cornish coast. There, a single volunteer (Mary Woodvine) recording data on an unfamiliar flower finds her lonely daily observations turning troublingly towards the strange and metaphysical, forcing her to question what is real and what is nightmare. Is the barren landscape not just alive... but also sentient?
Shot by visionary filmmaker Mark Jenkin – the BAFTA award-winning director of Bait – on grainy 16mm colour film and employing his trademark post-synched sound, Enys Men (pronounced 'Mayne') is technically innovative yet eerily evocative of the period it inhabits. Filmed on location around the disused tin mines of West Penwith, it is also an enigmatic ode to Cornwall's rich traditions of folklore and the region's rugged natural beauty.
Enys Men was released in UK cinemas by BFI Distribution on 13 January 2023 and recently opened in the USA via Neon. The BFI's Dual Format Edition Blu-ray/DVD and the simultaneous exclusive streaming release on BFI Player, are both available from 8 May 2023.
To celebrate, BFI Southbank is presenting the film with a live score that sonically reimagines its source material on May Day, Monday 1 May at 18:40. The score will be performed by writer/director Mark Jenkin and Dion Star, known under the banner of their collaborative music project 'The Cornish Sound Unit', who employ improvised and composed pieces using tape machines, analogue synths, feedback and field recordings.
BLU-RAY/DVD SPECIAL FEATURES:
Presented in High Definition and Standard Definition
Audio commentary by director Mark Jenkin and film critic Mark Kermode (2023)
Mark Jenkin and Mary Woodvine in conversation with Mark Kermode (2022, 29 mins): the film's director and its star discuss the making of Enys Men in an onstage Q&A filmed at BFI Southbank
Film Sounds (2023, 86 mins): Mark Jenkin and filmmaker Peter Strickland (Berberian Sound Studio, Flux Gourmet) discuss the subtleties of sound in film
Haunters of the Deep (1984, 61 mins): a Children's Film Foundation adventure that shares many West Cornwall locations with Enys Men, and made quite an impression on Mark Jenkin
Recording the Score (2022, 6 mins): Mark Jenkin at work on the film's distinctive soundtrack
Mark Jenkin's audio diaries (2022, 90 mins): the director charts his filmmaking process
The Duchy of Cornwall (1938, 15 mins): the strange beauty of Cornwall resonates through this iconic film from the vaults of the BFI National Archive
Image gallery
Newly created audio description track
Theatrical trailer
First pressing only: illustrated booklet with a Director's Statement; essays by Tara Judah, Rob Young, William Fowler and Jason Wood; credits and notes on the special features
