As I drew back the curtains this morning I knew I wouldn't be going far today. And wherever I did go would be in the company of a sturdy umberalla. Jumping on a No.17 into town I made it as far as Broadway. Yep, the pictures; I decided that sitting in a quiet cinema on a rainy Friday afternoon would be the extent of any activity today. What better place to lose yourself for a couple of hours.
I looked at what was showing on the bus journey in and thought I'd take a chance on H is for Hawk. A good choice. Based on Helen Macdonald's 2014 highly praised memoir of the same name, it tells the story of how a postgrad student at Cambridge deals with the sudden loss of her father. She adopts a hawk, Mabel, and gradually trains it to hunt in the wild. All the while trying - with mixed results - at keeping a lid on her all consuming sorrow. Claire Foy plays Helen and Brendan Gleeson her father. It's an uplifting tale beautifully told and gives an insight into depression and how despite friends and families' best intentions to help loved ones overcome their grief, ultimately they have to get through it themselves.
H is for Hawk (2026) - official trailer
I've been wondering about both reading the book and now seeing the film but I have a feeling I'll be in floods of tears through the whole thing!
ReplyDeleteI spent several weeks last week keeping up with a wonderful webcam site on a family of Eurasian Hobbies, and watching the two chicks develop from hatching to curious youngsters preparing to leave the nest - it was impossible not to fall in love with them - and then, one fateful day, a large female Goshawk, such as Mabel here, came and took them both, within a couple of hours of each other. Heartbreaking stuff - but a Goshawk is such rare sight and needed to eat and feed her chicks too, so the whole drama was imbued with awe and acceptance of the brutality of nature in the raw. Amazing birds, all of them, but it's emotional!
I think I may have to read the book now to gain a better insight into the back story. As for the film, yes, it's emotional (how could it not be?) but it never strays into overt sentimentality. Claire Foy is so convincing as Helen and is utterly believable throughout. You'd love it.
DeleteI went to see it last week and we all left the cinema feeling strangely uplifted. The shots of Mabel in action were amazing and as you say Claire played Helen really convincingly. (Although I thought the in-car smoking scenes were a bit unconvincing - she didn't seem to smoke at other times.)
ReplyDeleteYes, it's a very uplifting film despite the underlying sadness. Like I said in the post, I need to read the book.
Delete