Andrea Arnold’s best feature. Bird. It is a raw and powerful telling of a young girl (Nykiya Adams) getting lost in other people’s lives. Nykiya Adams gives a profound performance as the mature party in her teenage years, being responsible for all of her people and showing enough empathy through pain to be a pillar of support for others. The unique connection between Franz Rogwoski as the titular Bird and Adams makes for a lasting emotional impact that expands into something mystical, as she sees him manifest a human-bird hybrid form.
Adams’s performance is strong as she’s strong character but lacks confidence in the world, people, herself and she smartly contradicts her strongest traits with weaker body language. Moreover, Rogowski is sensational, modulating this puppy dog’s empathy and genuine sincerity that causes pity. The shot of Rogowski on the roof standing over Adams is one that will last in my memory. The sheer sadness of it. Most story beats aren’t anyting unordinary, not for Arnold’s filmography which constantly deals with these themes, but I love how it’s approached through Adams’ eyes as the protagonist and the singular perspective. She carries this beautiful spirit of hope through relentless depression and the instability of the living situation. All of the stresses manifest in Bird’s presence and Rogowski feels ethereal by nature. Barry Keoghan takes this from a great cast to one of the best of the year. His loose, a bit unhinged faux-fatherhood role turns out to be an endearing exploration of maturation even at older ages and in places of responsibility, is a nice pairing with his sensibilities. This leads to moments of breakthrough emotions from characters that first appear lacking in those emotions.
Robbie Ryan’s influence
The Robbie Ryan cinematography evolves as the story goes, seeing more naturalism be replaced by formalism. In the final act, Adams views the world through many abstract images and compositions. A world detached from reality and cyclical in nature as Bird makes his way into their lives He’s often captured in wide-shots, showing a physical distance between him and others. Nykiya, often captured in close-up one-shots that depict her strength and tenacity. A wonderfully visual film that is communicating without exposition.
Review: ☆☆☆☆ (88)
Weird Verdict:
Weird Cinema 