The Ornithologist: Unpredictably Terrifying
The first 17 minutes of The Ornithologist is quite dull and meditative, as Fernando (Paul Hamy) does exactly what an Ornithologist does; watch and analyze bird behavior in Portugal, particularly black Storks. While looking at birds in his Kayak, he doesn’t realize that he approches rapids and has an accident. Meanwhile, two Chinese tourists, Fei (Han Wen) and Lin (Chan Suan) find an unconscious Fernando in the middle of the woods. They revive Fernando using CPR and try to heal his wounds, until he wakes up the next day tied on a tree — waiting to be castrated. He escapes, knowing that they might be on his tail, but cannot find his way back. The film becomes a journey through self-exploration of Fernando’s own sexuality and his own christian religious beliefs.
After Fernando escapes the tourists, my eyes were completely glued to the screen for the remainder of the 117 minute opus. I thought the 180 direction that director João Pedro Rodrigues takes was excellent and made for a completely gripping adventure. You think you know where the movie is going, but as soon as Fernando is tied up, you know this ain’t it chief and your expectations are already thrown out of the window. The scene in which Fernando escapes Fei and Lin is typical suspense cinema, but elevated to a higher quality, especially because of its sound design. The scene is tension-filled, especially when Fei & Lin wake up when they hear noise that Fernando makes The atmosphere is particularly eerie the entire runtime. There is almost no music during the film, and, when there is, the music is spine-tingling and absolutely scary. I started to feel uneasy when the music kicked in for the first time, and everytime it would kick in.
In terms of “action”, The Ornithologist doesn’t really have any form of “action”, but it’s the character of Fernando, desperately finding help that makes the movie absolutely terrifying. When he escapes the tourists, you know he’s not in the clear. You know that Fei and Lin are trying to find him, somewhere, and they’re not going to give up. Everywhere Fernando goes, you don’t know where Fei and Lin are, which makes the film absolutely terrifying. The one person he meets, he is deaf & mute (or as Fernando puts it: deaf & dumb). He has sex with him, until he finds out that he stole his jacket and belongings and accidentally kills him when Jesus (Xelo Cagiao) can’t understand him as he is deaf and panicks while brandishing a knife. Yes, Fernando literally killed Jesus.
The religious allegories and christian references make most of the movie. The two tourists are religious pilgrims who do their pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, even though they are off-route. Fernando is a non-believer, an atheist — who doesn’t believe in what the tourists are saying about “forest spirits”, until he kills Jesus. When Fernando kills Jesus, he starts contemplating about who feeds the fishes near an abandoned abbey. A dove starts following him. Doves in christianity usually represents peace of the deepest minds, while soothing “troubled thoughts”. Fernando appears to be incredibly troubled after killing Jesus, especially during the scene in which he thinks he sees Jesus and resurrects him, but it’s actually his twin brother, Thomas. The dove is sitting in the middle of a tree, not taking a stance on Thomas and Fernando/Anthony (João Pedro Rodrigues)’s situation. When Thomas finds out that Fernando killed Jesus, he slices his throat in one of the most powerful sequences of 2017. Paul Hamy is excellent as Fernando, but it’s the final scene, in which he confronts Jesus’s brother that is the most impactful for his performance. Xalo Cagiao is also excellent as the deaf & mute Jesus and the once-dead Thomas, especially as Jesus, during the sequence in which Fernando accompanies Jesus in the water and they have sex, afterwards. The sequence takes a while to get going, but the final confrontation is excellent and shocks you to your core.
The Ornithologist is one of the most unpredictable films I’ve seen in 2017, in a year filled with predictable & pedantic filmmaking. Out comes one of the most thrilling and visually imaginative films of that year. It’s also one of the best LGBT films of 2017, with brilliant performances, beautiful visuals and cinematography and a story that parallels the life of St. Anthony in a thrillingly cathartic fashion. I can’t help but applaud João Pedro Rodrigues and admire what he has accomplished. A film that demands to be seeked out. Available on Amazon Prime!
✯✯✯✯½
