Bird - Film Review - Fremantle Shipping News

There really are so many good films showing just now, it’s hard to keep up. Bird is another. You’ll want to see it.

I saw Bird at a Luna preview quite recently. From the body art stills I’d been sent, and the little blurb I’d quickly read, I thought it wouldn’t be my cup of tea but maybe my movie buddy’s.

After a bit I wondered why I’d bothered to come. Then a bit further on I had a sudden realisation I was loving it!

I was just mesmerised. Nykiya Adams, who plays 12 year old Bailey, is something else. She seems friendless as all these seemingly mixed up lives in a town that one assumes is somewhere in northern England, but I’m reliably informed is Gravesend, Kent, spill around her. A father (the electric Barry Keoghan) who is old enough to be her boyfriend. A mother who has yet another current boyfriend, and another bunch of kids. Not to mention the father’s young girlfriend who also has a 3 year old and whom he’s only known for 3 months and plans to marry. And a brother who’s 16 and we learn later – oops, spoiler alert – has a 14 year old pregnant girlfriend.

Sounds chaotic? It is.

Enter Bird, played magically by Franz Rogowski. Is he a figment of Bailey’s imagination, and ours? Appearing in fields. Standing on rooftops. A Puck like figure floating in and out of Bailey’s life. Looking for his own parents in this strange town.

And then there are the animals. The toad. The horses, other animals. A fox?

And then there’s The seagull.

And all the birds.

And The Crow, and the message

But never fear: No one’s alone Bailey. Don’t you worry.

There is music, love, craziness, and hope here. I think!

Go see Bird, you won’t be disappointed, only a little disappointed I didn’t talk it up more.

Which I should have because it’s a movie from the English director Andrea Arnold. And when you read this bio of Andrea you’ll have an additional reason to see this film.

Arnold studied directing at the AFI Conservatory in Los Angeles. After making several short films, she won the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film for Wasp, in 2005. In 2006, her first film, Red Road, won the Jury Prize at Cannes Film Festival and the BAFTA Carl Foreman Award. Her second film, Fish Tank, starred Michael Fassbender and Katie Jarvis. It won the Jury Prize at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival. It also won the 2010 BAFTA for Best British Film.

Her third film, Wuthering Heights , was an adaptation of the Emily Brontë novel. The film premiered in competition at the 2011 Venice Film Festival. Her fourth film, American Honey, was shot in America with Sasha Lane and Shia LaBeouf. It won Arnold her third Jury Prize at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival.

In 2018/19 Andrea directed the second series of Big Little Lies for HBO. Her most recent film, before Bird, and first feature length documentary, Cow, premiered at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival to rave reviews.

Enough from me. Get your tix To Bird soon.

Now showing at Luna cinemas near you.

By Michael Barker, Editor, Fremantle Shipping News

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