BFI Recommends: The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey

This is a wonderfully strange film, a surreal and beautifully shot account of a quest to halt the progress of a deadly plague in its tracks. Following the clues provided in a young boy’s vision of possible salvation from the Black Death, a rag–tag group of 14th-century Cumbrian villagers set off to place a cross on the highest church spire in Christendom. They dig a tunnel and somehow, improbably, emerge in present day New Zealand…

I first came across this underrated gem when it screened as part of Alex Cox’s brilliant Moviedrome series on BBC2. It was one of those amazing late-night, accidental channel-surfing discoveries that sadly don’t really happen to me anymore. After the credits rolled, I remember wondering if I’d dreamed the whole thing.

George Watson
Film Booker, Distribution

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