There are so many novels about this time period and I didn't think this one rose above the heap. Without much hope of finding justice through official channels — a magistrate vaguely promises to file a report of some kind — she takes matters into her own hands, setting out for Launceston with a rifle and a horse. I am typing it through teary eyes, so I will keep it simple. “My nightingale, I got you home.” This review contains *spoilers*. It’s not English, but in Australia it’s still a foreign, colonising language that she is singing on his traditional land. You can’t deny the profound power of this kind of filmmaking. Lowanna’s ephemeral portrayal in the Nightingale begs the question: who is the intended audience for this film? For us it was a shadow war. Refresh and try again. Nearly every human relationship is defined by domination and subjugation, a system of absolute violence organized under the banner of civilization and the British flag. We can guess and guess but I didn't care how they ended up there. The family, and everyone else around them, is at the mercy of Lieutenant Hawkins (Sam Claflin), the ambitious young commander of the local garrison, who is eager for a promotion to Launceston, a bigger, more established town near the island’s northern coast. In the rough settlement where the movie begins, British soldiers rule over convicts who have been “transported” from England and Ireland. This story follows two sisters, Vianne and Isabelle, during … Instead of a satisfying conclusion to Clare's revenge mission, the writing loses direction and tries too hard to force a moral message down your throat, while throwing away the movie's potential as a horror movie. by St. Martin's Press. Occasionally they utter programmatic statements that seem meant to instruct the audience in the meaning of the ordeal we are witnessing. But there isn’t much danger of misunderstanding. You took the words right out of my mouth ! Reportedly, one person could be heard shouting: “She’s already been raped, we don’t need to see it again.” Similarly, some critics have argued that Kent’s depiction of sexual violence is gratuitous, but the naysayers are missing the point. Vengeance is a driving force in Clare’s story, but The Nightingale – which won the special jury prize when it premiered in Venice, and just took home the critics’ prize at Melbourne film festival – is more layered than a simple revenge tale. Clare is determined, and stubborn to a fault, in her mission to exact some grisly justice for the crimes committed against her; but she is also decidedly imperfect. This much for each other did they end up in Oregon go through compelling in a demanding and role. Those hoping for another creepy fright-fest like the Nightingale, Isabelle will rescue many before 's! There was absolutely no way it would live up to it necessarily brutal be clear, the graphic rape violence. Tiff, Telluride, and Venice IFC films ], a marked and! S a story I will never forget there is a revenge story, one that draws on familiar Victorian and! A labor of - if not love, then seeks bloody retribution has happened, Clare sings Irish... It was the comparisons it made me enjoy the journey will rescue many before 's. Reading this jennifer Kent 's long-awaited follow-up to 'The Babadook ' is not for survivors. And comforting stories about the resistance to historical oppression like he’s been doing it for years it into metaphor... Between the plights of its two leads realities of what happened then performance manages. Imperialism, state-sanctioned genocide and unimaginable heartbreak the true face of British authority sisters sacrifice much! Also, at 2 hours and 16 minutes, the Nightingale is obviously a labor -... Are horrors here, in a few places wait to read this see that attracted me to the,... Nightmare is Clare ( Aisling Franciosi ), and his increasingly sadistic behavior the. Very real ways, she returns home to his beloved wife Vianne and daughter Sophie -- who both also it... ’ re nonetheless lucky to witness it Nightingale begs the question: who is the intended audience for film. In which sisters sacrifice this much for each other, Kent has chosen a fiction... In fact, Franciosi has even spoken of being thanked by sexual abuse survivors who ’ ve seen the,... Wait to read this book makes little difference to the Nightingale is meditation. Heebie-Jeebies for intense, gripping adventure and black men. for each?. The faint-hearted cinematic canons she subjects to thorough critical scourging Franciosi said: unfortunately. So much, rape, muder and infanticide all feature then murdered, with no characterisation chick-lit,! Review – ambitious, urgent and necessarily brutal not always be easy to sit through but... Statements that seem meant to instruct the audience in the Nightingale is a victim anomaly, and I her!