While it's not a hill that I am willing to die on, or even willing to risk any minor injury on, it's worth noting that I wasn't as big a fan of The Babadook as so many other people. I also wasn't really taken with Jennifer Kent's episode in Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet Of Curiosities series. So, despite hearing some good things about this a few years ago, I was in no rush to watch The Nightingale, a 136-minute grim tale of abuse and revenge. I'm glad I got around to it at last though, it's easily the best thing that Kent has done so far (although you may find that I am the only person to hold that opinion just now).
Aisling Franciosi plays Clare Carroll, an Irish convict who is working as a servant for some British forces serving in Tasmania in the early part of the nineteenth century. With the promise of freedom being held over their heads, Clare and her husband, Aidan, are kept in check by soldiers who think they can pretty much do what they want without any fear of repercussions. They go too far though, way too far, but think it won't matter when they are just about to set off on a lengthy journey through the dangerous Tasmanian wilderness. That leads to Clare enlisting an Aboriginal tracker, Billy (Baykali Ganambarr), to help her find the soldiers she is determined to make pay for their horrific crimes.
With Kent once again assuming both the directing and writing duties, this is another film that allows her to accept all of the praise or criticism headed her way. It's praise from me, although I can imagine a few people being put off by some of the content here, and I'm so impressed by this film that I'll now be quicker to check out whatever she does next. There were a few moments here that had me slack-jawed with astonishment, but even the many scenes without any shocks or bloodshed were livened up by a look at class divides, colonialism, and the mistreatment and mislabelling of people simply due to the colour of their skin.
Franciosi has been doing very good work for some time now, even if there's nothing yet to declare as a breakout role, and this is one of her best performances. She's very believable and sympathetic, whether being emotionally devastated by the actions of men overpowering her or trying to dig deep within herself to find the conviction to exact her revenge when faced with the reality of what that entails. Ganambarr is also great, portraying someone who sees in Clare a strength and rage that he knows should be shared by himself, and many others like him. He helps to carry Clare along when she stumbles, but she in turn helps to strengthen his own resolve when he considers some extreme action. Sam Claflin may be a bit hammy in the main villain role, but he's entertainingly loathsome and someone you want to see get their comeuppance in the most protractedly painful way possible, and the same goes for Damon Herriman and Harry Greenwood.
The cinematography from Radek Ladczuk helps beautify some real ugliness, there's a fantastic selection of music from Jed Kurzel (who seems to enjoy working with Kent as much as he enjoys working with his brother, Justin, in between his other jobs), and the tone is balanced in a way that allows viewers to endure both the misery and the sense of jubilation that the main characters experience on their journey through some very dark territory. It could have been a bit shorter, agreed, and there could have been a different way to portray the villains without them being so ready to twirl their moustaches, figuratively speaking, and leer in an over the top style, but neither of those things made me dislike the film. I almost rated it even higher, but the fact that I would be hesitant to rush to a rewatch made me consider dialling my enthusiasm down just a bit.
8/10
If you have enjoyed this, or any other, review on the blog then do
consider the following ways to show your appreciation. A
subscription/follow costs nothing, and ALL of the links you need are here - https://linktr.ee/raidersofthepodcast
Or you may have a couple of quid to throw at me, in Ko-fi form - https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews
Or Amazon is nice at this time of year - https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/Y1ZUCB13HLJD?ref_=wl_share
No comments:
Post a Comment