Violence in The Nightingale is unrelenting. Claflin, Damon Herriman and Harry Greenwood make sinister colonialists, and Charlie Shotwell, as the young orphan Eddie, is captivating each time he appears.Īll these white men grow more inhumane as they undertake the callous, violent work of clearing the colony of Aboriginal people and their culture, through point blank mass murders, sexual assaults, and the debasement and defiling of men, women and children.

(The Nightingale also claims to be the first full-length feature to use Palawa Kani, a dialect reconstructed from near-extinct Indigenous Tasmanian languages). Ganambarr is charismatic, with strong physicality, and Kent’s collaboration with the Tasmanian Aboriginal community – including elder Jim Everett – brings cultural authenticity to his characterisation. She has elicited a world-class performance from Franciosi, in a demanding and harrowing role. Kent’s extraordinary craft shines through the world she has recreated, and in her seamless use of magic realism to reveal Clare’s psychological world. Billy is a Letteremairrener man, whose family have also been murdered by the colonists – and as he and Clare travel across the country, her racism softens, and their relationship becomes a space in which to explore the shared trauma and loss they have both suffered at the hands of white men.īaykali Ganambarr as Billy and Aisling Franciosi as Clare.

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. Hiring a black guide Billy (Baykali Ganambarr), Clare stalks Hawkins and his small party to Launceston – where they are being guided by Uncle Charlie (Charlie Jampijinpa Brown) – in order to punish them. His abuse of power culminates in horrific sexual and physical violence – depicted so unflinchingly by Kent that some viewers have walked out of cinemas – that strips Clare of everything she holds dear. She is overdue her ticket of leave and wants to be with her husband and child, but Hawkins refuses to relinquish his control. But I'm glad I got through it.Set in 1825 – during the Black Wars in Van Diemen’s Land – Clare (Aisling Franciosi) is an indentured Irish convict servant, in bondage to the cruel Lieutenant Hawkins (Sam Claflin). The way it's shot, the landscape and the cinematography, is gorgeous.

I believed every second of their performances. Other than that, the acting, especially Aisling Franciosi and Baykali Ganambar, are extraordinary. Even in the moments when a character says a funny line, it's always followed with a horrific act of violence straight afterwards. It felt like the director was subjecting her audience to a horrific punishment with this. The film begs the question - how does empathy survive in such a brutal world? How do you move on after you've lost so much? And finally, does vengeance bring satisfaction? The answers are No to the last two and Yes to the first one. Clare and Billy, the two protagonists are hated minorities in this land (An Irish female convict and a black man) who seek vengeance for the terrible crimes committed against their families and themselves. What sets this film apart from the disturbing movies labeled under 'horror', is that the excessive violence (sexual, racial, gender-based, vengeful and genocidal) pretty much all throughout this film is based on real life - The Black War in 1820s Van Dieman's Land, now known as Tasmania. Two hours is a hell of a long time to sit through what is essentially, quite possibly one of the most disturbing movies of all time.

The nightingale