'The Nightengale,' the latest film from the director of 'The Babadook,' is a bleakly intimate story of suffering, revenge, and colonial horror that you can't look away from
Australian director Jennifer Kent's The Nightingale is a bleakly intimate story of suffering, revenge, and colonial horror. The rare period thriller to trust its cast more than its costumes, Kent's sophomore follow-up to 2014's The Babadook lives in its close-ups and long, lingering shots of misery, vesting its characters with the weight of the broken worlds from which they come.
At its most visceral, The Nightingale is painfully revolting. A scene in which protagonist Clare bashes in a young British soldier's head with a musket's butt hammers home the sheer moral and physical weight of her quest for revenge. The sight of a toddler left confused and alone in the Tasmanian bush after British soldiers kidnap his mother in order to rape her is almost unbearable, as is the panicked act of infanticide which touches off the plot.
Kent's close-ups are engrossing, and the stark black fields on which Clare's dreams are projected are boldly disconcerting, but the film's setting feels restrained and overly clean. Perhaps the almost total absence of wildlife is meant to hammer home that human cruelty is the story's focus. Regardless, it results in a fairly staid vision of the notoriously dangerous Australian bush, one which never manages to project the menace the characters attribute to it.
The strength of the chemistry between Franciosi and Ganambarr, as well as the all too believable hierarchical viciousness of Hawkins' rival group of soldiers and servants, carries The Nightingale even through its most inelegant scenes. Their slow coming to understand one another, rendered fragile by the film's relentless violence, is warm, complex, and unpretentious.
The Nightingale was billed as a kind of murder ballad in cinematic form, and, from its desolate opening tragedy to its brutally lonely ending, it lives up to that medium's best work.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Ben Carson stands by Trump's depiction of BaltimoreHousing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson, who worked for decades as a top neurosurgeon in Baltimore, on Wednesday stood by President Donald Trump's depiction of the city as a 'disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess.'
Read more »
Bruce Lee’s Daughter Has More Questions About Quentin Tarantino’s “Troubling” Depiction of Her Father“I think part of what is so troubling to me is that it places a lot of responsibility on the audience to interpret what’s factual and what’s not factual,” Lee told V.F.
Read more »
Amazon Prime Video is suffering from a diluted brand identityConfusion surrounding Amazon's identity makes it difficult for Hollywood talent and producers to consistently create high-quality original content:
Read more »
Fire under control at Exxon petrochemical plant; some workers suffer minor burnsExxon Mobil Corp brought under control a fire that erupted on Wednesday at its B...
Read more »
Jeffrey Epstein's bid for bail suffers apparent setbackFinancier Jeffrey Epstein's effort to win bail while awaiting trial on char...
Read more »
Stacey Solomon reveals breastfeeding joy after 'suffering bleeding nipples'Loose Women star Stacey Solomon is 'excited to breastfeed' now that she has a full bill of health again
Read more »