The Nightingale

Popped along to the Luna the other night with Roly to see The Nightingale, Jennifer Kent's second feature after The Babadook. I've been vacillating about this film since then. I can't quite decide if I liked it or not and that's the nub of things. It's a beautiful film. And it's an unsettling film too. Set in 1825 Tasmania, it's humming with violence and the constant threat of it. This has apparently been a major turn-off for some audiences, with walk-outs and folk staying away from screenings. As confronting as this sexual and racial violence is, I reckon it's required viewing, especially for Australians unaware of our history. But I think the 'story' of the violence detracts a bit from the themes of trauma, companionship and trust that Aisling Franciosi and Baykali Ganambarr portray so well throughout.

The story is a pretty straightforward revenge journey and the scenes of the Tasmanian bush are amazing to see, betraying the horrors in and around the landscape. Much of The Nightingale reminded me of the excellent novel The Roving Party by Australian author Rohan Wilson. Do yourself a favour and dig this out.

A couple of quibbles. I found myself wondering if they couldn't maybe have trimmed 20 minutes from somewhere. I'm not quite sure where but it dropped the pace slightly in the second act. Another issue is the character played by Sam Claflin. He's the villain of the film and he's one of the most evil seen on screen for a while. But he has zero shade. No nuance whatsoever. Clearly, this is a creative choice and it could be argued that this kind of scum actually populated the colonies at the time, but he felt too panto for me.

The Nightingale is uncomfortable, stunning, powerful and an essential entry in the Australian film catalogue. But sadly, I reckon most people will give it a swerve.

See also:

Nicolas Roeg's Walkabout (1971) and John Hillcoat's The Proposition (2005) for similar story echoes.

SPOILERS IN POD!!

Listen to "The Nightingale" on Spreaker.

Dogman

The first time we tried catching Dogman at the Luna Leederville the showing was sold out, so we returned the next day. I reckon the full house may have had more to do with the fact that there were 24 seats in the screening room than any 'buzz' around the film. This was selected for competition at Cannes and Matteo Garrone is a fairly big name in Italian cinema, what with Gomorrah and Reality to his credit, but a sell-out? Hmmm. Anyway, Dogman is not a film based on the popular kids book, nor is it some kind of werewolf drama. It's Garrone's bleak look at the dodgy side of Italy - drugs, violence, poverty and unhinged masculinity (the only females in the film are the Dogman's ex(?)-wife and daughter).

The dogman of the title is a dog groomer/kennel owner, played by relative unknown, Marcello Fonte and for all his simpering unlikeability, he's pretty good in this, his first lead role. He actually won the Best Actor award at Cannes for the role. There are hints of Garrone's other Italian films here (the ones I've seen, at least) in the run-down setting and naturalistic performances but it's the themes that run through his work that show the clearest link. These are probably best summed up as futility and resignation. The characters in Dogman (as in Gomorrah and Reality) are from the low end of town, struggling to get by. The cycle of poverty and disenfranchisement eats away at them until circumstances push them over the edge. The spotlight in this film is on a horrible relationship between two guys - one bully, the other bullied. I found myself getting frustrated at Marcello (the weak dogman) and his inability to stand up to the bully (Simone, played boof-headedly by Eduardo Pesce). But there's the reality of the situation. In many cases like this, nothing works. No heroes. No closure. No happy ending.

As much as I appreciated Dogman for showing places like this and people like this, I was fairly bored throughout the film. Maybe the pace, maybe the uncomfortable nature but it didn't leave much of a mark on me. Still I'll be looking out for Garrone's next film - maybe I'll even turn up earlier next time.

See also:

Garrone's Reality (2012) and a different take on bullying, Tomas Alfredson's, Let the Right One In (2008).