BFI Recommends: The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey
Our daily recommendation series continues with some medieval tips on how to escape an epidemic, courtesy of New Zealand adventure The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey, chosen by George Watson.
![](https://core-cms.bfi.org.uk/sites/default/files/styles/responsive/public/2022-09/the-navigator-a-medieval-odyssey-1988-child-against-icy-landscape-with-lake.jpeg/1300x0/the-navigator-a-medieval-odyssey-1988-child-against-icy-landscape-with-lake.jpeg)
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