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Review by Oscar O'Sullivan Where do we draw the line when it comes to that rare and elusive genre of ‘Magical Realism’? Is there some defined point that should never be crossed, lest the film topple over into pure fantasy? Is the realism the more vital ingredient? How those elements are weighted surely comes down to personal taste, so I’m not surprised that the few reactions I’ve garnered to Andrea Arnold’s new feature Bird are most divided over a single moment – a late-game revelation that does see the film take flight and briefly abandon the grounded path it otherwise follows. In the moment it’s jarring, not because it’s unexpected, but because it’s predictable, an obvious literalisation of something that was otherwise gracefully unsaid. For some, this decision could unseat the whole film. I’ll admit that I wasn’t sure what to make of it in the moment, still amn’t altogether sure how to parse it out a day later. What I do know is that it wasn’t enough to undo the spell that the film had me under; a spell that wove its magic despite an overemphasis on that one curious syllable.
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UCC Film WritersEditorials and reviews by students at University College Cork. Archives
October 2024
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