The Navigator - a Medieval Odyssey

This is an absolutely beautiful film! It still holds me spellbound after 20 years. It must be the most extraordinary film I've ever seen.

The soundtrack is gripping, mainly monophonic Gregorian chant which sits beautifully with the stark black and white. Snow constantly falls softly and the moon looms through dark clouds. The mood is stark too, this is the middle of the the fourteenth century and Black Death stalks the countryside.

In a small mining village in the Lake District of Cumbria, a young boy has a vision which reveals to him how to stave off the deadly plague. The villagers must dig down into the earth of a nearby cavern, racing against time and the coming of the next full moon, to reach "the biggest Church in all of Christendom" and raise a holy cross on the steeple. Only this offering will bring God's protection.