Movies about the relationship between a person and one of God’s creatures is becoming a virtual genre of its own. My Penguin Friend, Penguin Lessons, The Starling and Penguin Bloom are recent examples, the latter starring Naomi Watts who was also on hand in Telluride last year with another similar story, this time with a Great Dane in the sublime The Friend. This year, we have Claire Foy and the goshawk in H Is For Hawk, which world premiered Friday at the Telluride Film Festival and has much to offer, not just for bird lovers but for those suffering sudden loss and learning how to deal with grief.
This one is a true story based on a 2014 memoir by Helen Macdonald (played in the film by Foy), detailing her bonding with a goshawk after the sudden death of her beloved father (Brendan Gleeson) as a way of somehow replacing this void in her life. Helen is basically inconsolable, her life turned upside down until she sees a way out, or so she hopes. With memories still so vivid of going out into nature and birding with her dad, she meets with a breeder (Sean Kearns) and takes home a goshawk named Mabel, one she plans to train for a life in the wild, and at the same time give her hope to move beyond her despair. It starts out rocky with the restless and anxious bird, but we can tell through Foy’s fearless and dedicated performance that this is a woman who will not easily give up. And, of course, it is something that will connect her with dad, a professional and celebrated photographer, who often took her out into nature with camera in hand to capture moments with feathered friends and others.
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Dealing with others in her life who try to be sympathetic, if a little skeptical, is another part of the story. There is Lindsay Duncan as Mum, warm but offering advice to keep her daughter from going completely off the rails, as well as best friend Christina (a sharp Denise Gough), who tries in every way to be supportive in this venture. Since the death of Dad is very early in the picture, nearly all of Gleeson’s role is told in frequent flashbacks of their time together, and the actor is charming, perfectly believable as a parent who truly loves being a dad. In fact, this is a rare kind of film that shows the unique and very universal relationship between a father and daughter rather than son, which is usually the Hollywood way.
Scenes outdoors as Helen continues to train Mabel, making her comfortable to find her own food and thrive in the wilderness, are remarkably captured with some of the most beautiful cinematography of any film this year. Behind the camera is Charlotte Bruus Christensen, whose previous work in films like A Quiet Place and Far from the Madding Crowd indicate she was the perfect choice to take on this challenging assignment shooting the exquisite photography involving the lead hawks and Foy. Mark Payne-Gill contributed the wildlife cinematography. Rose Buck and Lloyd Buck were the hawk trainers so integral to the film’s authenticity. Regarding Foy, not only does she convince as someone learning the ropes of training a goshawk, and then developing true skills along the way, she also takes on a role that is not only highly emotional, but also challenging given a co-star whose behavior is not always so predictable. She’s nothing less than splendid in what is her best screen work to date.
The impressive thing about Philippa Lowthorpe’s assured direction and the script she co-wrote with Emma Donoghue is its resistance to easy sentimentality. This is undeniably a story about grief, loss and trying to cope with it all. In lesser hands, the film could have gone for cute animal stuff to lighten the load, but H Is For Hawk never succumbs to that temptation, and quite frankly, goshawks don’t make it easy for that to begin with it. Coming from Plan B productions, Film 4 and others, this is a film that doesn’t pander for tears, but genuinely earns them. It is the stuff of life.
Producers are Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner. It is looking for distribution.
Title: H Is For Hawk
Festival: Telluride
Director: Philippa Lowthorpe
Screenwriters: Phillipoa Lowthorpe and Emma Donoghue
Cast: Claire Foy, Brendan Gleeson, Lindsay Duncan, Denise Gough, Sam Spruell, Sean Kearns
Sales agent: Protagonist Pictures (international); UTA
Running time: 2 hrs 10 mins
Pete Hammond
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