10/31/2022 0 Comments Medieval cloak![]() ![]() There is also evidence of cloaks lined with fur or fabric, cloaks with slits or trains, and of different lenght. In written sources, cloaks go under many different names depending on the time, period, appearance and who the wearer is. True to the spirit of Birdy, though, Dunham does so in her idiosyncratic way-certainly defiant in the face of convention, but more thoughtful about the little transgressions that compromise the difficult and, yes, occasionally delightful journey toward adulthood.Full cloak with sleeves, collar and decorative borders She’s refined the jaggedness of her own youthful insight and now hands down a more refined package to a new generation. I like the more sagacious, more patient Dunham we can imagine behind the camera here. This is an intriguing new avenue for Dunham, who heretofore has focused on the pains and erotic pleasures of later adolescence, to sometimes marvelous (most of Girls) and other times grating (the recent film Sharp Stick) effect. It’s much more a film about the assertion of self, a good lesson for any young person (or older person, maybe) as they struggle to preserve and create an identity amid all the world’s pressures and demands.ĭunham’s ensemble of actors seems happily aligned with that goal, generously goofing around in a way accessible to kids while never pandering to them. Catherine Called Birdy sort of gives its hero another love interest, but settling her down with the perfect boy isn’t really the movie’s mission. But George first sets his eyes on Aelis, causing a rift between her and Birdy, and then moves on to an addled-wise older widow, Ethelfritha, played with a kooky whisper by Sophie Okonedo. Who Birdy really wants is her dashing, sad-eyed uncle, George (the dashing, sad-eyed Joe Alwyn), a Crusader who’s returned home to brighten Birdy’s ragged fiefdom. Ramsey nimbly maneuvers the film’s shifting tones, imbuing Birdy with an appealing mix of high-born brattiness and beyond-her-years intelligence-which we’d hate to see hidden under a bushel by some cruel transaction of a husband. The film is alternately silly and sweet, cognizant of the oppressiveness of what’s being spoken about while still giving Birdy reason to play and dream and safely rebel. That’s a delicate balance, and one that Dunham strikes gracefully. She’s altered the ending of the story from the novel, pointing it toward empowerment in a way probably not at all accurate to the time period, but not so blinkered by a contemporary outlook that we forget entirely what world Birdy lives in. ![]() ![]() (And, of course, fart jokes like the ones in the film are for all ages.) Dunham does have instruction in mind as well. Sure, there are some mild-ish sex jokes, but nothing on the level of what that kid is likely hearing at school. If there’s a witty, perhaps slightly precocious tweenager in your life, they’d probably get a lot out of Birdy’s tale. On the tidier side of things there’s Aelis ( Isis Hainsworth), daughter of a decrepit old lord who is perhaps more sold on the idea of romance than Birdy is, but nonetheless is empathetic to her friend’s plight.īut is it a children’s movie? I suppose that depends on the child. There’s Perkin ( Michael Woolfitt), a “goat boy” who’s always good for a bit of messy fun. And yet, Birdy rather likes the mud, and she’s got some trusty pals to cavort around with in it. Everything’s muddy, her mother ( Billie Piper) is forever losing babies in labor, and, because of her gender, Birdy is denied the roving, adventurous life she yearns for. It’s the late 1200s and nothing about Birdy’s life is very nice. (Despite the fact that she’s just 14 years old.) Thus he begins the process of marrying off his daughter, who has newly had her period, thus making her eligible. Birdy’s father, Rollo ( Andrew Scott), has been a spendthrift and needs some dowry money to keep his estate afloat. In the film, Birdy ( Bella Ramsey) is the free-spirited daughter of a manor-poor noble family in medieval England. Written and directed by Lena Dunham, Catherine Called Birdy is based on the beloved 1994 novel by Karen Cushman. (Or, in the ickiest cases, the nobleman himself.) Could there ever be a lighter side to this dehumanizing practice? The new film Catherine Called Birdy (Amazon, October 7) aims to find out. No, theirs are marital unions of political expediency and convenience, usually forced endeavors that see a young woman sold off to the son of a noble family. Not because the schemers and brutes of Westeros prize love above all else. In the world of HBO’s smash-hit House of the Dragon, marriage is perhaps the most important institution. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |