★★★★ - THE POST
- Fierce avian co-star the perfect foil for fabulous Foy -
A high school English teacher for more than half of his life, my late father devoted his last two decades to a particular passion project.
Some say it was because of the Presbyterian lay preacher’s interest in religion of all kinds, others because he wanted to settle a bet as to whether the region had more pubs than places of more traditional worship, but the result, published after his death in 1996, was Dunedin Churches Past and Present, a book which claimed to document the Edinburgh of the South’s every kirk since the city’s founding in 1848.
I was reminded of all the research trips, drive bys and expeditions undertaken – especially when he knew his time was running short – while watching this heartfelt and haunting adaptation of British naturalist Helen Macdonald’s 2014 memoir.
While it’s very much an intimate examination of grief and how a sudden death can destabilise even the most stoic, it’s also a celebration of an inter-generational bond and perhaps the most affecting father-daughter tale since Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar.
While the day job he could never quite bring himself to retire from was newspaper photography, Alistair Macdonald (Brendan Gleeson) was also determined to snap a picture of every bridge that crossed the River Thames, enlisting the assistance of Helen (Claire Foy) whenever she was available. Those forays also invariably allowed them to indulge in a spot of their favourite shared pastime – birdwatching.
Helen always marvelled at her Pa’s knowledge of all things avian and their habits, so when he fatally collapses in a London street while in the big smoke to cover an impending storm, the Cambridge-based History and Philosophy of Science research fellow and lecturer decides the best way to remember and honour him is to procure her own goshawk.
However, even her most experienced of falconry friends, Stuart (Sam Spruell), questions her choice of “the maddest of raptors”, a breed he describes as “a perfectly evolved psychopath”.
As for her best mate Christina (Denise Gough), she’s initially just concerned that their meeting with the seller on a Stranraer pier “feels like a drug deal”. That quickly shifts to fears for Helen’s sanity as she becomes obsessed with bonding with “Mabel” and fretting about her weight and lack of interest in food.
Then, as Helen’s attention focuses to taking Mabel out on hunts, her research, teaching and general hygiene starts to suffer, intensely worrying both Christina and Helen’s family, especially as Alistair’s memorial looms.
Anchored by a terrific performance by The Crown and Women Talking’s Foy (who has previously shown her ability to excel in less straight-laced roles in films like Steven Soderbegh’s Unsane), director Philippa Lowthorpe (The Third Day, Prisoner 951) and her co-writer, acclaimed novelist Emma Donoghue (Room, The Wonder) have crafted a sombre, yet life-affirming drama that also boasts some gorgeous and truly evocative cinematography by Charlotte Bruus Christensen (Far From the Madding Crowd, A Quiet Place). The Dane’s capturing of Mabel up-close and in full flight is sometimes not only breathtaking, it really turns her into a fully-fledged character.
- James Croot, THE POST
H is for Hawk is now playing at Light House Cinema!