The Ornithologist

2016

1h 58m

IMDb RATING

6.1/10

106

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Adventure

Drama

Mystery

Stranded along a sublime river fjord in northern Portugal, an ornithologist is subjected to a series of brutal and erotic Stations-of-the-Cross-style tests.

Directors

João Pedro Rodrigues

Writers

João Pedro Rodrigues(screenplay by)

João Rui Guerra da Mata(screenplay by)

Stars

Paul Hamy

João Pedro Rodrigues

Xelo Cagiao

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Trailer
Watch The Ornithologist - Official Trailer HD - Edited for Content

Top cast

Fernando

António

Jesus …

Fei

Ling

Blonde Huntress

Huntress 1

Huntress 2

Directors

Writers

João Pedro Rodrigues(screenplay by)

João Rui Guerra da Mata(screenplay by)

All cast & crew

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"Fernando" (Paul Hamy) is out in the Portuguese wilderness doing a bit of birdwatching when he gets caught up in the rapids, his canoe is trashed and he finds himself rescued by two rather curious Chinese women - "Fei" (Han Wen) and her girlfriend "Ling" (Chan Suan). Things get a bit on the surreal side from this point as his journey continues and he next encounters the handsome, mute, goatherd "Jesus" (Xelo Cagiao) before a rather unfathomable tragedy ensues and the story takes on an almost fantastic nature that sees "Fernando" having to come to terms with his actions all under the supervision of a beautiful white dove that clearly has a more symbolic function as yet to be explained. Is he ever going to make it to civilisation? Does he really want to? It's quite a curious film, this, with no obvious purpose to it. Initially, it looks more like a natural history docudrama with some lovely photography of birds in their natural habitat and us (and him) as mere observers, but once his trip becomes less routine the story starts to head seriously off piste and becomes a bit too random for me. It's not that it isn't structured, it's that director João Pedro Rodrigues doesn't seem so bothered about taking us with him as his mind wanders for two hours of really quite eccentrically indulgent moviemaking. There's little rhyme-nor-reason to the second act, if you like, as "Fernando" discovers what looks like the abandoned garden from the late Michael Jackson's estate amidst the forest then some Amazonian type paintballers with Centaur aspirations! It's quirky and inquisitive about attitudes to faith - and not just 20th century faiths at that - and I did like the last five minutes, but on balance I found it quite a long watch to leave feeling slightly bamboozled.

Geronimo196725 Aug, 2024