Within the first 10 minutes of the film, Hawkins brutally rapes Claire. Hawkins forces her to sing for his soldiers, she's known as "the nightingale." Hawkins parades her out in front of his heckling ogling men. Claire is imprisoned by Lieutenant Hawkins ( Sam Claflin), who refuses to release her from bondage (it's three years overdue). While "The Nightingale" is obviously a labor of - if not love, then rage - for Kent, it left me cold, even with the two wonderful performances at its center from Aisling Franciosi and Baykali Ganambarr.įranciosi plays Claire, a young Irish convict in 1825 colonial-era Australia, when British troops are in the process of putting down rebellions, subduing the locals, perpetuating a genocide on the Aboriginal population. The script has this weird mix of rigidity and flabbiness, especially in the final sequences which are repetitive and stagnant. But somehow, when translated into visual form, the effect is deadening. Part of this feels appropriate to the lead character's PTSD she is traumatized beyond nuanced responses. Having no subtext flattens out the action, creating a same-ness in the scene progression. The violence is appropriate (and the film is appropriately difficult to watch). The issue with "The Nightingale" isn't its violence, nor its portrayal of rape. "The Nightingale" has already caused controversies at festivals, where people walked out, outraged at the multiple violent rape scenes. The film is filled with brutality from start to finish, over its grueling run-time ("The Nightingale" feels much longer than it is). Kent’s follow-up, "The Nightingale," is a completely different sort of film, with its own kind of horrors, different horrors, that of the ravages of colonialism, its violence, rape and murder. Kent's capacious imagination and compassion drove "The Babadook," with its focus on a mother and son doing battle with a supernatural-style "intruder." The film worked on multiple levels, buzzing with potent ambivalent metaphors for grief, insomnia, parenting (especially single parenting, as well as parenting a so-called "difficult" child). It played for months here in New York, a rare occurrence for an indie film from a first-time writer/director. The recent spate of works filmed in Tasmanian film may be the start of a whole new genre.It's been five years since Jennifer Kent's debut film, " The Babadook," which quickly took its place as one of the most effective horror movies in recent memory. Still photographers have long recognised this, and chased the perfect image. There is a specific ‘something’ evident immediately you see a scene shot in Tasmanian. Recent productions combine quirky Tasmanian characters with the natural beauty of the surroundings to create a ratings winning formula.
There is also an increasing popularity of TV series based in Tasmania. Alaskan and New Zealand films similarly exhibit these traits. Both celebrate the hardy self-sufficiency of the inhabitants. Both are nurtured by their bleak but beautiful surroundings. Tasmanian films have developed a certain ‘film noir’ personality, similar to that of Scandinavian film. ‘Much of the film’s power grows out of the claustrophobic beauty of the landscape’, Hall noted. Wild, remote and hostile, the landscape is as much a star in this film as the human participants. The Tasmanian landscape was no less tough. Critic Sandra Hall said that in this, the film was absolutely convincing. Reviewers note that brutality to women, convicts and aborigines was ‘commonplace, casual and utterly callous’. Critically acclaimed for its authenticity, the film’s portrayal of life here in the early 1800s rings true. However, more generally it explores the brutality of colonial Australia, depicted here as life in early Tasmania.Ĭolonial Tasmania was a tough place to be, particularly if you were female, convict or aboriginal. Specifically it is about one woman’s revenge. Additionally, the more open countryside to the east of Truffle Lodge sets the scene for the farming landscapes.ĭirector-writer, Jenifer Hunt weaves a tale of revenge. The mountains, tall trees and temperate scrub to the north of Truffle Lodge feature strongly in the film.
The movie The Nightingale 2018 was filmed near Truffle Lodge. The movie The Nightingale 2018 is set in the countryside near Truffle Lodge.