Released: August 2019(Australia)
Director: Jennifer Kent
Rated R
Run Time: 136 Minutes
Distributor: IFC Films/Shout! Factory
Genre: Drama/Thriller/Horror
Cast:
Aisling Franciosi: Clare
Sam Claflin: Hawkins
Baykali Ganambarr: Billy
Damon Herriman: Ruse
Harry Greenwood: Jago
Michael Sheasby: Aidan
Before I begin this review of Jennifer Kent’s The Nightingale, I want to let everybody that know that I’m issuing a trigger warning for this film. What I mean by that, is that there is imagery in this film that could trigger a powerful emotional response to what’s being shown. In fact, at last year’s Sundance Film Festival, there were explicit warnings about the graphic nature of The Nightingale. So much so, that they ended up having counselors at the ready in the event of somebody having a severe emotional reaction to the film’s content. Various review sites and YouTubers have issued such warnings for this film. Because of all that, I feel that is also my responsibility to issue a warning. The Nightingale has multiple and graphic depictions of rape and brutal violence. The context for all of this is based on actual history, but even so, if you have been a victim of a sexual assault or are easily disturbed by really graphic imagery, skip this movie. In fact, if you are one of my readers and have been a victim, I would suggest that you either close the tab, hit the back button, or just close the browser and go somewhere else. This is not a film for everyone and it is certainly not for those that are easily triggered. You have been warned.
The Nightingale is set in Tasmania in 1825 when the British Empire was expanding it’s colonies and control over Australia. The film follows Clare, a married Irish convict with a child, who is an indentured servant of Lieutenant Hawkins. Hawkins is an ambitious military officer with his sights on a captaincy in a northern town. After performing for a group of British soldiers, Clare asks Hawkins to release her as part of an agreement made three months prior. Discovering that Hawkins won’t release her, Clare’s husband confronts the Lieutenant. As a result, Clare and her family are brutally assaulted by Hawkins and his men. Left for dead, Clare sets out on a quest for revenge against Hawkins by employing a local Aboriginal tracker named Billy. I knew going into this film that The Nightingale wasn’t going to be a pleasant experience. It really isn’t. The first twenty minutes of the film are the cinematic equivalent of getting sucker punched and then getting kicked when you’re down. What separates this film from something like say, I Spit on Your Grave is context and realism. I Spit on Your Grave, while it has its brutal moments, it is ultimately a revenge fantasy. The Nightingale is a story that is set in one of the darkest periods in Australian history. As a result of that, Clare’s plight is but one of many similar stories that have played out over the course of Australia’s colonization. The reality was that a lot of these British officers got away with a lot of terrible things that they did to not only the prisoners that were shipped from England and Ireland, but also the native Aboriginal tribes. When you understand the historical context of the film, it makes the imagery that much more potent and the story that much harsher. It’s a fantastic story and it’s one worth telling.
When it comes to the villains of the film, they do seem pretty two-dimensional, except for Hawkins. This character is a guy that is only looking to improve his station and get a promotion. He’s willing to step on any and everybody to get there. This man is clearly some kind of patriot because he’s willing to do things for the British Empire. That’s about the only real compliment that I can give such a despicable character. Hawkins is a very ugly character on the inside and the cruelty that he inflicts on others reflects that ugliness. His subordinates, Ruse and Jago, are just as guilty of heinous crimes as he is, although Jago seems to have a little bit of a conscience. It doesn’t really help the character in the grand scheme of things, but it does go to show that even some brutal people are capable of some kind of regret. Ruse, on the other hand, is a boot-licking carbon-copy of Hawkins. He’s just as vile. Sam Claflin’s performance as Hawkins is extraordinary. This guy is known for playing relatively decent people, but in the case of The Nightingale, Claflin really dives in to make his character so hateful without him becoming a cartoon. It takes real talent to do something like that.
Aisling Franciosi stars as Clare. This was such an emotionally powerful performance that I couldn’t take my eyes off of her. Films like this can’t be easy to make, especially when you’re dealing with such brutal imagery. Her character is put through the ringer throughout the whole movie and she just nails every single moment. From her anger to her moments of vulnerability, Franciosi is an incredibly gifted actress that gives it her all. Baykali Ganambarr, in his first film, is simply magnetic as Billy, the Aboriginal person that Clare hires to guide her through the wilderness. The moments between Clare and Billy are the reasons why I love movies. The interactions between these two is wonderful. Despite the character being a second-class citizen herself, Clare is racist against Billy and vice versa. Over the course of the film, when these two begin to discover that they really aren’t that different in terms of their experiences with the English soldiers, you begin to see a stronger bond form between the two.
The Nightingale is a brutal film to watch. The violence in the film isn’t always physical or sexual, even though that plays heavily into it. The violence is also psychological. Hawkins belittles and berates his subordinates any chance he gets, and Clare just comes down on Billy at times. Aside from the fact that the film is set in 1825 Tasmania, what makes the violence in this film tough to watch is that it’s not an over-the-top gore-fest. The film is an examination of violence and while it does shove your face in it from time to time, it’s never done in a way that feels exploitative. It feels real, and you feel like you are in the middle of it. The way that Jennifer Kent handles the brutality in the film is one that is based on historical events, as I have stated before. Instead of being your typical revenge-thriller like the aforementioned I Spit on Your Grave, Jennifer Kent asks the question of how violence affects people, both the victim and the perpetrator. Initially, Clare wasn’t going to let anything get in her way of killing Hawkins and his men. However, because of her time spent with Billy over the course of the film, you begin to see her having doubts. When she kills one of the soldiers, you see how devastating the effect of the act has on her and it’s tragic. One of the bigger themes of the film is the futility of revenge and how damaging it can be to a person’s soul. I love the fact that the film doesn’t offer the audience the typical cathartic effect that a revenge film normally would.
One of the things that I really love about this film is the way it was shot. The cinematography is simply amazing. The film was shot on location in Australia and Tasmania, so the authenticity of the film feels incredibly realistic. The Nightingale was shot in the Academy ratio of 1.37:1. What that means is that the film has two black bars on the sides of the screen if you’re watching on a wide-screen TV, which most of us are these days. Other-wise, the film would be presented as a full-screen presentation. I’ve seen two other modern films that utilize this ratio: The Lighthouse and The Assassin. There’s a reason why this aspect ration was picked for this film. The purpose of the Academy aspect ration is to focus on characters and their faces instead of the surrounding environments. It allows for a more intimate and character-driven experience. Because of that, the film ends up focusing on the pain and anguish of the characters as they are being brutalized, making for a far more uncomfortable experience. It’s incredibly effective and I applaud Jennifer Kent for doing that. If there’s really an issue that I have with this film, is that runs a little too long. At 2 hours and 16 minutes, I feel that some scenes could’ve been trimmed a little bit to tighten up the pace a little bit. I wouldn’t cut out ANY of the brutality, because that’s essential to the film’s purpose, but I would have cut back on some of the wandering and less important details.
The Nightingale is an experience of a film. It’s a dark, bleak, and often depressing look at a very savage period in Australia’s history. However, I think this film is very important in that regard. We, as a society, stand here with a chance to learn from our history and not to repeat our mistakes. There are a lot of moments throughout history that many “civilized” nations would like to forget, but shouldn’t. Yeah, the film is loaded with scenes of brutal violence and rape sequences, but it’s important that we do see the ugly side of humanity so that we can learn not to do it anymore. Do I recommend The Nightingale? Not easily. It’s an amazing film in every way from the filming and directing to the performances. However, because of the graphic nature of the content, I can only recommend this film to those who are willing to stomach a very brutal and unflinching film. It’s a powerful experience, but it’s not for everyone. If you can make it past the first twenty minutes, I think you are going to be in for one hell of a film.
My Final Recommendation: 9/10.