Film
The Nightingale (18)
Dir. Jennifer Kent, Australia/Canada, 2018, 136 mins. Cast. Aisling Franciosi, Sam Clafin, Boykali Ganambarr.
Jennifer Kent's follow-up to her smash hit The Babadook is an urgent period thriller, winner of the Special Jury Prize at Venice. Set at the turn of the 19th century, Clare is an indentured convict held by British lieutenant Hawkins. Overdue her release, his abuse of power eventually culminates in a horrifically violent attack. Hiring an Aboriginal tracker, Billy, they stalk Hawkins, with Clare desperate to wreak her revenge. A harrowing and uncompromising look at the horrific reality of early British rule in Australia, Kent uses narrative and superb cinematic craft to explore the terrible savagery with which British colonisers took Australian land from its native Aboriginal people and violently exploited prisoners.
Jennifer Kent's follow-up to her smash hit The Babadook is an urgent period thriller, winner of the Special Jury Prize at Venice. Set at the turn of the 19th century, Clare is an indentured convict held by British lieutenant Hawkins. Overdue her release, his abuse of power eventually culminates in a horrifically violent attack. Hiring an Aboriginal tracker, Billy, they stalk Hawkins, with Clare desperate to wreak her revenge. A harrowing and uncompromising look at the horrific reality of early British rule in Australia, Kent uses narrative and superb cinematic craft to explore the terrible savagery with which British colonisers took Australian land from its native Aboriginal people and violently exploited prisoners.