The Ornithologist * * * *

  

The Ornithologist: Not all smooth sailing.

I wonder what the reaction would be if this was made in an English speaking country?

I don’t know why, but when in it’s in another language and you have to read the subtitles, our values and levels of acceptance seem to change.  Well that’s what I think.

        Maybe some dramatic themes only have credibility if they come out of certain parts of the world, from countries which have been steeped in disruptive politics, or, as in this case, steeped in Christianity.

         The Ornithologist is so rich in symbolism (and audacity) I was starting to feel a bit overwhelmed.

         I am still uncertain as to whether it was being profound or mockingly irreverent. It could be interpreted either way.

         Set in a huge National Park in Portugal, the film starts off true to its title:  We watch Fernando, a lone bird watcher, camping on the river bank.  I don’t want to spoil it for you by letting you know how, but later we find him miles from his camp site, bereft of canoe and most of his belongings.

          In the meantime we have begun to follow two christian lesbian Chinese girls walking through the forest. They’re supposed to be retracing the trail of St Anthony, but are hopelessly off track. They are lost.  Like Samaritans they find Fernando and take care of him.  But the next day we get shades of Deliverance as the sweet little Chinese girls turn into a right pair of psychopaths.

       Fernando gets away and hopes to make his way out of the wilderness.  The journey brings him across men practicing a strange ritual of dressing like birds and forest animals, building monuments, and screaming as they run through the forest and dance around bonfires, except by their language they might just as well be regarded as drunken hooligans.  

       Later he comes across a shepherd who cannot hear or speak. HIs name is Jesus and the interaction he has with him is profound and deeply symbolic - not to mention challenging for anyone who might regard the character as truly being a symbol of Jesus.

         Later we find him in the grounds of a deserted church overgrown with plants but still the grottoes and statues remain.  Then someone who appears to be Diana the Huntress appears.

        ……. yep…. It starts to ask a lof of you.

         But I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it.  I was constantly fascinated by the events and not once did I feel I was being taken for granted. Even if many of scenes can be regarded as a bitter commentary on religion or as satire, overall there is sincerity here.

           The events I have spoken about are merely the outline. Watch out for what happens within the events, the replication of saints, the wounds of Christ, the resurrections, the homo-eroticism, there is an awful lot going on.

           Further, be amazed at the sheer beauty of the environment itself.  The rock faces, the river, the forest. It is beautifully filmed.

           The Ornithologist won't be for everyone, in fact it is only on at one cinema in Melbourne,  but it’s a unique experience and well worth going to see.