The Nightingale is a stark reminder of a period of British history many would rather forget: one that still haunts Australia today. Jennifer Kent’s film carries extraordinary power, with performances that match as it lays bare the abject horror of colonialism, the unchecked power of empire and the brutality of racism and state-orchestrated oppression. The Nightingale is now available to rent, buy or stream.
In her 2014 horror masterpiece, The Babadook, Jennifer Kent explored the psychology of motherhood and the enduring impact of trauma, while reshaping the horror genre. The Nightingale, her second feature as a director, once again takes a classic genre —the Western —and reshapes it through a female gaze. The Nightingale could be labelled a mere revenge thriller, but it’s so much more. Kent’s film is an exposé of the inhumanity and horror of colonialism and the differing experiences of oppression from First Nations people to those forced to call Australia their home.
Set in 1825, as British troops enlarged their territories by forcibly taking First Nation people’s land in Tasmania, Clare (Aisling Franciosi) is an Irish convict and servant owned by Lieutenant Hawkins (Sam Claflin). Of course, ‘convict’ is a loose term for those sent from Ireland to Australia by the British, as many had not committed any crime other than being Irish. Clare is long overdue for her freedom and longs to be with her husband and child, but the cruel and power-hungry Hawkins refuses to relinquish control. As tensions between Clare’s servant husband and Hawkins rise, Clare finds herself and her family the subject of a horrifying act of violence.
These gut-wrenching scenes are challenging to watch as Clare’s life is torn apart in the soft candlelight of the cabin. The masculine dominance, entitlement and oppression Kent’s opening scenes portray only highlight a disturbing truth of colonial rule, and one many people like to airbrush from history: British colonialism was built on rampant xenophobia and a belief in racial superiority, class divide and violence.
Stripped of everything that made her life bearable and complete, with Hawkin’s free from the justice he should face, Clare hires an Aboriginal guide, Billy (Baykali Ganambarr), to help her find him and his troupe of men; her need for revenge ferociously burning within her soul. From here, Kent rejects the male dominance of the classic Western revenge thriller by fully embracing Clare’s rage and fury. But within this female rage, she also allows us to explore the intersections and differences between Billy and Clare, both victims of the ‘white’ European male.
As an Irish woman, Clare knows she sits above Billy in the pecking order, and on first encountering Billy, she treats him with the same disdain the British use toward her. Here, Kent powerfully explores the layers of oppression that see social, religious and cultural groups separated and divided into racial hierarchies.
While revenge sits at the heart of The Nightingale, it is Clare’s dawning realisation that control and persecution take multiple forms within a purposefully divided and segregated society that sits centre stage. As Clare’s journey ends, there is no relief from revenge or a real sense of justice; there is just an uneasy feeling of release.
The Nightingale is a stark reminder of a period of British history many would rather forget: one that still haunts Australia today. Jennifer Kent’s film carries extraordinary power, with performances that match as it lays bare the abject horror of colonialism, the unchecked power of empire and the brutality of racism and state-orchestrated oppression.
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HIGH GROUND
Australia’s complex, violent and colonial history has been reflected through several influential films over the years, from The Nightingale to Phillip Noyce’s Rabbit-Proof Fence and Warwick Thornton’s Sweet Country. High Ground never quite matches the power of these films through its exploration of imperialism, genocide, and cultural appropriation in a John Ford Western style.
However, that doesn’t mean High Ground does not contain moments of brutal honesty as we follow Gutjuk (Guruwuk Mununggurr), a young Indigenous boy taken into the care of a mission following the slaughter of his family. Through Gutjuk’s journey, High Ground asks us to reflect on the horror of colonialism and its horrific legacy of power imbalance, enslavement and genocide.
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