Catherine Called Birdy (2022): To Be or Not To Be A Lady
If there is one thing that Lady Catherine “Birdy” of Stonebridge (Bella Ramsey) hates the most in this world, it is being a lady. Spirited and adventurous Birdy prefers disrupting cottage raisings, causing mischief in the village, and spending time with her goatherd best friend Perkin (Michael Woolfitt) more than spinning a thread, doing her chores, or playing the flute gracefully. However, everything in her life changes when Lord Rollo of Stonebridge (Andrew Scott), Birdy’s self-indulgent father, is told that their family’s finances are drastically declining. The only way to solve the problem is to marry off Birdy, the only daughter of the family, to a wealthy suitor. Not wanting to give her freedom up to marriage at such a young age, Birdy spends months full of tricks to chase off her potential suitors while navigating her life with puberty, friendships, heartbreaks, and growing pains.
Catherine Called Birdy (dir. Lena Dunham, 2022) offers a brilliant coming-of-age story of Birdy finding her true self and place in the world with its dynamic characters and witty humor. Due to its medieval time setting, however, it is inevitable for the movie to encapsulate issues like gender roles and gender equality.
When Birdy tells her nursemaid, Morwenna (Lesley Sharp), that she finally got her period, she lectures Birdy on her duty as a woman: to bear children for her husband. Birdy does not want to be a woman or a mother because she has witnessed her mother suffering from six stillbirths, so she hides the truth about her period from her parents to avoid expediting her wedding process. Deep down, Birdy still wants to marry someone she genuinely loves, and she is utterly crestfallen after finding out that her father plans to wed her to a man she does not even know. She is left with no choice. Her father keeps pushing forward with his plan no matter how often she expresses her disagreement and jeopardizes the suitor’s visit to their manor.
Birdy’s best friend, Aelis Sidebottom (Isis Hainsworth), is also put in the same situation as her: marrying a stranger under her father’s command to keep the family’s honor. Similarly, Lady Berenice (Mimi M. Khayisa), Aelis’ stepmother, got married to her husband out of her will. She was brought from another country without being informed where she was going. To make it worse, Aelis’ father is a scornful man who controls everything his wife and daughter do. Contrary to them, men like Uncle George (Joe Alwyn), Robert (Dean-Charles Chapman), and Birdy’s other suitors are allowed to marry a woman of their choice without difficulties.
Catherine Called Birdy (2022) contests the idea of gender roles in medieval English society by attributing masculine traits to Birdy’s character, who dreams of creating a world where young girls like her could decide for themselves. She does not hesitate to speak her mind, stand up for herself, and sacrifice everything for her loved ones.
The movie cleverly introduces Birdy as the main character and the conflict she is facing, and it successfully hooks the audience’s attention from the start. The story is told from Birdy’s point of view, leading us throughout the movie with her witty and sarcastic narration. Accordingly, shots from various angles also show how Birdy sees people around her, especially her family.
For example, in the scene where Birdy talks about her oldest brother, Edward the Monk (Archie Renaux), the camera captures his figure from a low angle, making him look grand and majestic. It implies that Birdy respects and adores him as a brother. On the other side, eye-level shots are used more often to capture her second brother, Robert, suggesting that Birdy sees him as someone equal despite him being older than her.
Her mother, Lady Aislinn (Billie Piper), is probably the person Birdy loves and respects the most in her life. It could be seen from the use of low camera angles that shows how highly Birdy sees her. Sometimes, the camera captures both of them from a high perspective, implying that she is the person that Birdy can be vulnerable to because she is her mother. Her relationship with her mother runs deep. Birdy’s relationship with her father, however, is quite the opposite. Since the beginning, both of them do not seem close to each other, and their relationship grows even more apart due to the arranged marriage plan. The camera alters between high and low angles to film Lord Rollo throughout the movie, following Birdy’s feelings toward him in different scenes.
The movie also uses medium and close-up shots to display the feeling of captivity and Birdy’s yearning for freedom. The small frame feels like a birdcage that keeps Birdy away from her dreams, aspirations, and everything she wants. Another aspect that highlights Birdy and her story is the lighting. It gradually changes throughout the movie, following Birdy’s character development. In the beginning, Birdy’s youthfulness is portrayed through high-key lighting and highly saturated tones. As the story progresses, it changes into low-key lighting and low-contrast tones throughout the middle part, expressing Birdy’s gloominess while facing all the obstacles in her life. In the last act, Birdy is all grown from the lesson she learned, and the lighting goes back to high-key lighting but slightly less saturated to symbolize her matureness.
In addition, the editing provides on-screen sentences that show how Birdy views and describes other characters she encounters, even though the sentences might be challenging to read since they appeared only for a few seconds. Because the story takes place in 1290s medieval English, the dialogues still maintain some Old-style English to emphasize the setting and atmosphere. Nonetheless, some modern aspects make it easier for viewers to digest and enjoy.
Overall, Catherine Called Birdy (2022) is a clever coming-of-age movie that provides a playful adolescent spirit and shines a light on gender issues through formal techniques. Various camera angles, lighting, toning, and editing are incorporated thoughtfully to enhance the audience’s watching experience. Watching the film through the eyes of a young woman, I sympathize with Birdy because I, too, want to do things I want in life and pursue my dreams. I would not want to marry a stranger who is twice my age at 14 years old — way too young for marriage!
Unfortunately, child marriage was a prevalent practice during medieval times. Many families, especially the wealthy ones like Birdy’s family, would marry off their young daughters to other prosperous men once they entered their adolescent years; therefore, I could not help but root for Birdy to achieve her freedom. My heart aches for all the young women in the story — and in real life — who had to sacrifice their youth to save and support their family’s finances through marriage with someone they do not love. They are not given any choice, and their voices are often unheard, no matter how hard they try.
But at the same time, I admire those who are selfless enough to make such decisions, even at a young age. It reminds me once more of the perseverance of women, which unfortunately still relevant to the circumstances in modern society today. It is not about women not marrying a man but about women being able to choose and decide what they want to do with their lives without other people interfering.
