The Nightingale: Innocence and Purity Explored
The Nightingale Review
So I recently watched the latest film from director Jennifer Kent, The Nightingale. The Nightingale tells the story of Clare, a young Irish woman who is being held prisoner by the British Army in 1825. After she is exposed to a terrible act of violence at the hands of a British officer, she sets out along with an Aboriginal tracker named Billy, to find the ones who performed this act of violence and kill them. This movie was great. It was intense, scary at times, and made you feel things for the characters as they progress through the film. I want to make something clear right off the bat. This is not a film for everyone. I am a person who doesn’t really get disturbed by violence in films. It just doesn’t really bother me, but this film explores violence that is so realistic and bleak, that it quite honestly almost had me in tears. Please use discretion when watching this film. I knew going into it what I was getting myself into and I was still shocked. It is incredibly graphic on multiple levels.
This film lends to itself on multiple fronts but one thing I want to talk about is the simple storytelling. This film is easy to follow along with because there isn’t much to keep up with. With some stories there is so much happening that it can be hard to keep up with, but with this story I never had that problem. The characters views and motivations are clearly laid out in a way that the audience can understand and interpret based on the knowledge given on screen. Never once was I wondering why a character did something that they did. The characters are complex people with nuanced motivations and actions. But the storytelling itself is simple, and that lends to this movie greatly.
One thing I wanted to discuss as well is the theme of purity. This film portrays different forms of purity in nuanced ways and shows how quickly purity can be taken away from someone whether by choice or by force. This film brilliantly finds its footing through this question by introducing 5–6 different characters who represent different forms of purity and 2 main characters representing evil and the “loss of innocence”. The Nightingale is a bird that often symbolizes purity and beauty. It’s no question why this is the name of the film. I don’t want to spoil things in my review because there is lots to unpack that would require me spoiling the story, but this is what I got out of the film. Purity and innocence are fragile and can be taken away at a moments notice. Purity and innocence should be protected as long as possible because the world is bleak and depressing and we all have to learn that someday, learning it early can be harmful.
This film is one that is bleak, depressing, and quite honestly hard to watch. At multiple times in the film I found myself saying “Oh no” or “uggghhh not again”. This film drives home the reality of the situation the characters are in in a way that makes the audience shrivel in fear, and disgust. The themes of purity, innocence, racism, and sexism are explored brilliantly in a nuanced fashion. The morality of this film is obvious but not shoved down your throat with blatantly partisan messages. I normally try to recommend or not recommend movies to my readers based on my enjoyment of the film but I’m not sure I can do one or the other with a film such as The Nightingale. One the one hand, I loved the movie and could recommend it from a filmmaking and storytelling perspective. But on the other hand this movie could seriously be too disturbing for some viewers. I’m not even sure I could watch it again yet because of how hard this movie is to watch. However, with all of that being said, it is another amazing movie in a year full of fantastic pieces of film. This movie does the job it tries to do. Make you shrivel in disgust and realize the harsh reality of this world. Innocence and purity can be taken away in a moment. Whether by choice, or by force.
The Nightingale score:
90/100
