Saturday, 21 June 2008

Black Hill

The Devil tricks God into restricting their struggle to a remote fishing village. They can only influence events through their two envoys in the village; a priest and a doctor.

At the outset none of this is made clear. Nor at any point do we see God or the Devil. We are introduced to the village through the eyes of two backpackers seeking refuge from a storm. The village is so unusual, seemingly frozen in time, that the travellers stay a while longer.

Due to the remote nature of the village the Doctor knows almost everything about everyone.

Due to the extremely religious nature of the village the Priest also knows almost everything about everyone.

Who is working for who is never clear. Just when you think you've figured it out, a new episode will show previous events from a different viewpoint. Over the course of the series the backpackers become embroiled in events in the village - unwittingly becoming pawns in the game.

By the end the backpackers, once best friends have become polarised. Events become increasingly dark and bizarre. At the end the true masters of the Doctor and the Priest appear to become clear but by then it is too late. The backpackers take their place as the new envoys.

Ultimately the themes revolve around free will. You should decide how you act. Not your religion. On one hand it seems to be a supernatural or religious story but the way people behave in it is only dictated by belief - the ambiguity leaves it up to the viewer to decide whether or not they even think God or the Devil was influencing any of it.

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