The Nightingale

I guess I'm one of the only people on here who completely loved this. I've never been this uncomfortable in a movie before. Kent is a very daring director, and she has a pretty engrossing story here. Franciosi is amazing and Claflin is really solid as one of the most hated characters ever. The lack of music, along with the way the conversations and bitterness are directed, make it feel very realistic. One of the bleakest movies I've ever seen. It's rough as hell, but important viewing.

the shiteingale

Almost singularly ruined my love of Irish folk songs. I won’t, and am definitely not qualified to, debate the appropriateness of depicting rape in cinema language - but contrary to the exploitation and melodrama genres, here, director Kent *meant* every single frame of them. And every other brutality that came after. The entire cast is incredibly impressive. Kent is a talent to pay special attention to, because she’s traveling where most fear to go, bringing us all along with her.

Successfully recreates an extremely unpleasant (but historically accurate) experience.

The Nightingale is two films: a genre female revenge flick and a take on genocide and colonialism. The first film is fairly successful with its shocking violence and visceral desperation. The second film, as designed to be the meat of Kent's film, is woefully lacking in earnestness. In fact, it is probably very irresponsible and exploitative in a Dances-With-Wolves-kind-of-way. I liked the first film enough.

A committed and strong effort by Franciosi in a very challenging role. Kent's film is gruelling in places to be sure, but her command of tone and her completely masterful filmmaking make her one the most exciting new directors out there.

The brutal hyperrealism illustrating the extent of depravity of English imperialism is admirably done. There should be more such honest depictions of the rampant misogyny and racism of yesteryear's "civilizers." On the other hand, much of the cast clearly cannot pull off the immensely difficult performances (except Ganambarr, who lends so much nuance to his complex role). The script, too, ends up tripping up over itself and ends up eventually settling into hokey melodrama. A very flawed film.

While very much in line with cinematic conventions, and aligned with trendy victimhood cliches, The Nightingale's historical setting doesn't let any of it seem like that much of a stretch. It's a superbly executed thriller with a story that's certainly great fun, and though not entirely convincing, comes a fair bit closer than most revenge fantasies.

Not gonna lie, this movie fucked me up. It is legitimately hard to watch the first 2/3rds of this. Franciosi does an excellent job of playing a completely hopeless and broken person. She brought not only a sense of realness to the character, but made her likable as well. Claflin is in the rare position of playing just an all around awful human being, but he does It very well! I will say, this is not a film for the faint of heart. It can be terrifying in a realistic way. Loved it nonetheless!

Very good.

A gripping tale that holds your interest and never fails to surprise. Commanding performances and a brutally hard story. Aisling Franciosi was excellent as the protagonist. Baykali Ganambarr was also quite good. Full of raw emotion and risky plot choices.

Not very subtle and pretty bloated -- the plot seems unfocused, not to say messy --, but I get it because the real horror here is racism and misogyny and the two leads -- great performances, btw -- live in a world that wants them dead all the time, no matter their struggles, fights and anguishes. Kent's direction is clean enough to give room to amazing shots, but I'm not sure the bleakness violence hits the right spots -- it seems, I don't know, too evil for the sake of being too evil.

The Babadook felt a lot more special and unique than this. I like a good revenge tale, and this doesn't skimp on the violence or brutality. It was sufficiently satisfying when the bad guys got theirs. Good performance from the lead girl, and it was shot well. But it just felt like a normal entry in the genre, which isn't the end of the world by any means. Could have been a tad shorter though.

Trying for postcolonial feminism, but I think not succeeding in avoiding clichéd portrayals of native people as accessories to a white woman's journey. Nevertheless, some good portrayals of the ongoing structural violence of the world we live in through the lens of a revenge thriller.

I didn't like The Babadook as much as most people, but this blew me away. It's a shame The Nightingale didn't find the breakthrough success of Jennifer Kent's earlier feature and wound up as a financial failure, bringing in less than $1 million worldwide. It deserves far more attention. I always espouse stories that don't pull their punches, and The Nightingale is certainly that.

Brutal and disturbing without feeling exploitative, this is a movie that takes you to your limits of how much you can stand to watch the evils humanity is capable of. Darkly beautiful and endlessly suspenseful, few revenge movies feel as poignant as this one.

I kept being reminded of Walkabout (1971), but with revenge. I little long, but it's such a powerful tale you almost don't notice.

Brutally violent, trigger warnings all over the place, especially at the start. The film is very good, and the themes of revenge, loss, and colonialism, are handled well. Tough going. but worth it.

Excellent film. I would have given a higher rating if it weren't for two things. It was at least 30 minutes longer than necessary. And the 1.37:1 aspect ratio was annoying and unnecessary. It was like watching it on an old tube TV in the 80s.

Kent’s sophomore effort, while not quite as unique, is beautifully shot, and tough to watch. The 4:3 aspect ratio also adds a ton to the atmosphere. Franciosi and Claflin are solid, and Ganambarr is enjoyable as the films most likable character (Not that that’s a high bar, but I liked his presence). The films runtime however really hurts the tension. It starts well enough, but the brutality was somewhat deluded through an unnecessary extra thirty minutes. Still a good film overall.

Intense.

Awesome!!!

Most folks down under are singing this film's praises, but aside from some technically well implemented sequences, I wasn't impressed by this very simplistic and derivative tale of good and evil, with the evil being particularly mustache-twirling -- the villain here is the exact same villain from the similar movie The Tracker. The setting is brilliantly realised, but the characters within in really don't act like flesh-and-blood humans -- but you get to see plenty of their flesh and blood.

A girl decides to get revenge for the very bad things done to her and her kin, and gradually befriends an Aborigine to whom very bad things have also been done. Aims to bring together several different kinds of “issues”, but that doesn’t mean it can really be called complex: on the contrary, it’s all a bit obvious. But it does try to be brutal. Odd, though, that a man so determined to be a psychopath would announce that it’s necessary to kill someone, then just leave the job unfinished.

Really didn't enjoy this at all.

Almost comical how evil the villains are but Baykali Ganambarr was a highlight.

While as a revenge flick "The Nightingale" does a fantastic job giving you a protagonist you can get behind and an antagonist that is utterly despicable, it still didn't cut it for me. Clare is a little too much of an asshole and far too little of a badass, sure I felt sorry for her, but that's about all there is to do here, because she doesn't actually do much in this movie.

A tighter cut would probably make this exceptional

Ah, another film that makes you proud to be British! This was a film that highlighted a period of history not widely known, and did it extremely well, but like many films it gives a rather "black and white" portrayal by concentrating on a lovely aboriginal guy, a white bastard, and a feisty Irish girl as ciphers for everyone in the conflict, which was much more nuanced. That said, this was interesting for Clares seeming acceptance (once Jago was killed) and the "caged bird" released, unlike Bill

The opening, with its harsh and sustained violence, seems to challenge the viewer, call out the fact that we're in a story set mid-genocide, and that *shouldn't* feel safe for a predominantly white audience. Kent then spins an admirably multifaceted story about oppression and revenge on the way to "civilization" that, much like her previous film, gets lost a bit towards the end - it's a very good 140-minute movie with a brilliant 120-minute movie hiding somewhere in it.

More violent and more vulnerability than I expected. Beautiful final scenes, but felt a little repetitive and drawn out… B

Good, but too long.

A grim and hectic revenge story that really puts you behind the eyes of this women. Wish we understood the background of mark more

1810: nothing special. too slow, no action, many dramatic scene without a proper revenge to balance it!

Raped+noforeignsubslol+rapesinfrontofhusbandthenkillshim-thenbabycuzwontshutup-thenthoughtkilledher+blackguide+somesidecharactersbadacting-guidetoolol+savagelykillsone-guidewannaleave-thenwannahelp+shefreezes/getsshot+kidpussiesoutsokillshim+lamesceneshejusttellshimoffinfrontofguys+yayguidekillshimlolbutgetskilled+dyingbirdchantlol

Ugly tale of violence and revenge is frustratingly short on context; the problem with using one character to stand in for a society (a supernaturally demonic Claflin) is that the character risks becoming a one-dimensional "boogey man", and in this case giving short shrift to the societal rot in "the good old days" which would be an interesting and worthy path to pursue. It's all surface level here, which mitigates a stunning use of Tasmanian scenery and Franciosi's brave and pained performance.

okay movie

A real shitty-shit shit