The Nightingale (2018 film)

 

Written and directed by Jennifer Kent, The Nightingale is the story of an Irish convict who goes on a journey for revenge following the death of her family in colonial Tasmania where she is aided by Aboriginal Tasmanian tracker who also wants revenge against the British colonists. The film is a psychological thriller set in the early 19th Century as it plays into a woman who lost everything as well as being gang-raped by these colonial soldiers as she and this man trek through the rugged wilderness of Tasmania. Starring Aisling Franciosi, Sam Claflin, Baykali Ganambarr, Damon Herriman, Harry Greenwood, Ewen Leslie, Charlie Shotwell, Michael Sheasby, and Magnolia Maymuru. The Nightingale is an unflinching and visceral film by Jennifer Kent.

Set in 1825 Tasmania just before the Black War between the British and Tasmanian Aboriginals, the film revolves around an Irish woman who treks through the Tasmanian wilderness with an Aboriginal Tasmanian tracker on a journey for revenge after being gang-raped and forced to watch her husband and infant daughter killed by two British soldiers and a British officer. It is a revenge film, but it is really a study on the horrors of colonialism with this Irish convict and a Tasmanian Aboriginal dealing with what was lost under the rule of Britain. Jennifer Kent’s screenplay is straightforward in its narrative, yet it is filled with this study of colonial rule and how two people are ravaged by the horrors of colonialism as they also endure loss of the most extreme. The film’s protagonist Clare (Aisling Franciosi) is an Irish convict who is hoping to be freed by a colonial detachment leader in Lieutenant Hawkins (Sam Claflin) so she can have a life of her own with her husband Aidan (Michael Sheasby) and their infant daughter. Yet, Lt. Hawkins is more interested in keeping so he can rape her and use her as property to assert his authority.

When a superior officer arrives to inspect Lt. Hawkins’ post, he chooses to not give him a recommendation where Lt. Hawkins and a couple of his officers decide to gang-rape Clare in front of Aidan where dark events occur leaving Clare alive. Lt. Hawkins and his officers flee their post to travel to Launceston with an Aboriginal guide, two servants, and a young boy who is eager to help them. Clare takes her husband’s horse while a fellow convict suggests she should take an Aboriginal guide of her own where reluctantly accompanying her is Billy (Baykali Ganambarr) who knows how to get to Launceston. During their journey, the two would encounter the wilderness as well as their own prejudices towards one another as Billy despises white people and their ways but they would eventually find a common cause in their hatred for the British. Especially as they are both people who have been exploited and tortured by colonialism, where Clare and Billy each have their own thirst for vengeance. Still, they cope with not just loss but also the horror of a world that is unforgiving.

Kent’s direction is entrancing in its visuals as it is shot on location in Tasmania while it is presented in a 1:37:1 aspect ratio to create an intimacy in its look. While there are several wide shots of the film to capture the scope of the locations including the Tasmanian wilderness as it is a character of its own. Kent also grounds the film in her usage of close-ups and medium shots to play into the sense of terror that Clare would go through as Kent also creates compositions that play into what is happening in the foreground with events happening in the background. Notably during the gang-rape scene where Kent does not hold back on the violence though she does not show anything sexually explicit in what is happening to Clare but rather her face and the horror with which she is dealing. The aftermath is just as disturbing of a woman who had just lost everything where Kent’s close-ups says a lot into what this woman has endured. When the film moves into the woods, there is something uneasy about its surroundings where it feels like Hell on Earth. Hung Aboriginals on tree branches. Old couples killed in cabins. Kent does not shy away from the horrors of colonialism where Clare and Billy would bond over their encounters of these atrocities as no one is safe.

Kent also plays into the sadism of Lt. Hawkins where he is just as cruel to those who are loyal to him while he would also do things that are inhumane. One of his officers would kidnap an Aboriginal woman (Magnolia Maymuru) as she would later be raped by that officer and Lt. Hawkins with their Aboriginal guide having to look away. Lt. Hawkins and his entourage would also encounter the wilderness at its most unforgiving, that include Aboriginal tribes who want them dead for all the right reasons. The film’s third act has a calmness though the sense of loss and trauma still looms with both Billy and Clare coping with violence up close but also a rare form of kindness. Still, Kent displays this great sense of inhumanity that Billy and Clare still encounter as it relates to Lt. Hawkins as he is the embodiment of inhumanity as well as the many fallacies of colonialism. Overall, Kent crafts an unsettling and monstrous film about an Irish woman and an Aboriginal Tasmanian going on a dark journey through the Tasmanian wilderness on a quest for revenge.

Cinematographer Radek Ladczuk does incredible work with the film’s cinematography with its usage of fire and available light for the interior/exterior scenes at night as well as the usage of natural lighting for the scenes set in the daytime. Editor Simon Njoo does excellent work with the editing with its usage of jump-cuts for a few scenes as well as rhythmic cuts to play into the action and suspense. Production designer Alex Holmes, with set decorator Christian Petersen and art director Sophie Nash, does brilliant work with the look of station post that Lt. Hawkins and his men lived in as well as some of the homes that Clare and Billy encounter along with the town of Launceston. Costume designer Margot Wilson does fantastic work with the green dress that Clare wears for her singing performance early in the film along with ragged clothing she would wear as well as a coat that Billy would get at a house.

Hair/makeup designer Nikki Gooley does brilliant work with the look of the characters including some of the warpaint that the Aboriginal tribes wear during a key battle scene in the film. Special effects supervisor Dan Oliver and visual effects supervisor Marty Pepper do superb work with the visual effects for a few surreal moments in the film including a weird dream scene after Clare was knocked out only to then wake up. Sound designer Robert Mackenzie does phenomenal work with the sound in capturing not just the atmosphere of the location with sounds of animals and nature but also in the way gunfire can sound from afar or up-close as it is a major highlight of the film. The film’s music by Jed Kurzel is wonderful for its low-key orchestral score that only appears sparingly as it has elements of folk music instrumentation while music supervisor Andrew Kotako creates a rich music soundtrack that features folk and traditional-based music in some of the Irish songs that Clare sings and the war cries of Billy.

The casting by Nikki Barrett is tremendous as it feature some notable small roles from Maya and Addison Christie as Clare and Aidan’s infant baby, Ewen Leslie as the officer Goodwin who refuses to give Lt. Hawkins a recommendation, Magnolia Maymuru as an Aboriginal woman in Lowanna whom Lt. Hawkins and one of his soldiers would take prisoner and rape her, Charlie Jampijinpa Brown as Lt. Hawkins’ Aboriginal guide Uncle Charlie, Charlie Shotwell as a young boy named Eddie who becomes part of Lt. Hawkins’ entourage as he hopes to win him over, Harry Greenwood as one of Lt. Greenwood’s officers in Ensign Jago who is reluctant to do anything for Lt. Hawkins, Damon Herriman as another of Lt. Hawkins’ officer in Sgt. Ruse who is eager to please Lt. Hawkins while also engaging in deplorable behavior, and Michael Sheasby in a superb performance as Clare’s husband Aidan who tries to reason with Lt. Hawkins in releasing Clare so that they can be free.

Sam Claflin is phenomenal as Lt. Hawkins as this monstrous figure that has no problems being abusive towards anyone he encounters while he also feels entitled to having a certain status. Claflin gives a performance that is truly ferocious in the way he treats people as if he is the reflection of inhumanity and the cruelty of colonialism. Baykali Ganambarr is great as Mangana aka Billy as this Aboriginal Tasmanian guide who reluctantly helps Clare in finding Lt. Hawkins as he is someone that has legitimate hatred for white people including the British where he would befriend Clare realizing her own hatred for the British. It is a performance filled with nuances of a man that is trying to hold on to his identity and culture while lamenting everything he had lost. Finally, there’s Aisling Franciosi in a breakout performance as Clare as this young Irish woman that loses everything including her husband and infant daughter where she goes on a journey for revenge. It is a performance that demands a lot of physical and emotional anguish where Franciosi just goes all out while not being afraid to be vulnerable in her reaction to loss as it is a performance for the ages.

The Nightingale is an outstanding film from Jennifer Kent that features a trio of great performances from Aisling Franciosi, Baykali Ganambarr, and Sam Claflin. Along with its ravishing visuals, uncompromising approach to violence, and its ugly depiction of colonialism at its most cruel. It is a film that is not for the faint of heart while it is also a film that goes beyond the parameters of what is expected in a psychological horror film. In the end, The Nightingale is a magnificent film by Jennifer Kent.

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