The ornithologist

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Movie
German title The ornithologist
Original title O ornitólogo
Country of production Portugal
original language Portuguese , English ,
Chinese , Latin ,
Mirandés
Publishing year 2016
length 118 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director João Pedro Rodrigues
script João Pedro Rodrigues,
João Rui Guerra Da Mata
production João Figueiras ,
Diogo Varela Silva
music Séverine balloon
camera Rui Poças
cut Raphaël Lefèvre
occupation

The Ornithologist (original title O Ornitólogo ) is a Portuguese film by João Pedro Rodrigues , which premiered on August 8, 2016 as part of the Locarno International Film Festival .

action

The gigantic ornithologist Fernando is looking for wild black storks after a relationship dispute in the pristine north of Portugal , close to the Spanish border. He records his observations on a dictaphone. After his kayak was swept away by the rapids, capsized and almost drowned, two apparently friendly Chinese pilgrims saved him from the river. However, the Chinese women are crazy and only play their helpfulness. When Fernando woke up in the morning, the lesbian women tied him half-naked to a tree and prepared him for castration . The Arch Catholics, who are on their way to Santiago de Compostela , but have lost their way, want to recreate the martyrdom of St. Sebastian . In a way, however, Fernando is also sexually stimulated to be tied up .

When he can free himself and get further and further into the eerie and dark forest instead of finding a way back, Fernando's journey becomes stranger and stranger. The forest is getting denser, the rocks are getting higher and higher. First he meets strange guys in carnival costumes, drunken shamans who speak Mirandés, then the 35-year-old Portuguese meets a deaf and mute goatherd named Jesus, who seduces him on the riverbank, and finally even three topless Amazons with guns on their horses who hold him address in Latin and name Antonius. All of these encounters transform Fernando into a new person. Fernando is also accompanied by a white pigeon that follows him constantly after he has taken care of her broken wing. Ultimately, the now completely changed ornithologist finds his way out of the fairy tale forest and goes to Padua.

production

Staff and funding

The film was produced by Joao Figueiras and Diogo Varela Silva from the Portuguese production company Blackmaria. Other production companies were House on Fire from France and Itaca Films from Brazil. The film received financial support from, among others, the Portuguese Ministry of Culture.

Directed by João Pedro Rodrigues , who wrote the screenplay for the film together with João Rui Guerra da Mata . Rodrigues had once studied ornithology himself and made no secret of the fact that he also made a film about himself. With the film, Rodrigues adapted the myth of Saint Anthony , a 13th century Franciscan who is the patron saint of travelers, but also for finding lost objects and for finding a partner. Like the protagonist of the film, he was born into a noble family with the name Fernando and traveled to Europe and Africa as a monk. After his short film Manhã de Santo António from 2011, Rodrigues dealt with the sacred a second time with The Ornithologist . In the film, Rodrigues gradually transforms the ornithologist Fernando into a Catholic saint.

Rodrigues explains that Saint Anthony is deeply anchored in Portuguese culture and society and that his life was heavily influenced by travel, which eventually brought him to Italy, where he followed his calling: “The film is a daring allusion that borders on blasphemy on the life of the saint. Some passages of his sermon from 1222 as well as some episodes find their way into the film, but in the further course the fictional takes the upper hand. ”Even his Fernando will ultimately be led to his new identity at the end of his initiatory search and exploration, according to Rodrigues.

In addition to Saint Anthony and religious motifs and the art-historical iconography of Saint Sebastian , a soldier and martyr who lived in the 3rd century and who is remembered in the film when Fernando wakes up tied to a tree, Rodrigues also takes samples from the film genre of Westerns to create a mythical fantasy world. The soundtrack was created by Séverine Ballon .

Filming and casting

Paul Hamy took on the role of the eponymous protagonist with ornithologist Fernando

Filming began in August 2015 and ended in November 2015. Rodrigues shot the film with his cameraman Rui Poças in the forest, in a rocky landscape and on the Douro River in northern Portugal, but also in the Italian city of Padua , where the pilgrimage church Basilica di Sant'Antonio is located with the tomb of Saint Anthony.

Paul Hamy took on the role of the eponymous protagonist with ornithologist Fernando, who is also called Antonius in the film by three women. Xelo Cagiao plays Jesus, actually Tomé. Han Wen took on the role of Fei, and Chan Suan plays Ling. Juliane Elting took on the roles of leader of the Amazonian hunters , Flora Bulcao and Isabelle Puntel play her entourage. In the film, the director Rodrigues lends his voice to the ornithologist Fernando and embodies Saint Anthony himself clearly visible from the beginning and from the middle of the film in only seconds.

publication

The film premiered on August 8, 2016 at the Locarno International Film Festival . In the same year the film was presented at a number of other film festivals, such as the Festival Internacional de Cine de San Sebastián , the Busan International Film Festival , the London Film Festival, the Toronto International Film Festival , the New York Film Festival and the Tokyo International Film Festival , but also as part of the Viennale . From October 1, 2016, the film was presented for the first time in Germany as part of the Hamburg Film Festival . The film was released in Portuguese cinemas on October 20, 2016 and in French cinemas on November 30, 2016. As part of the Seattle International Film Festival 2017, the film competed in the Contemporary World Cinema section and was shown in the Latin-American Cinema and Emocion Pura: Cinema from Spain sections. In June 2017 the film was shown at the Queer Film Festival in Nuremberg and at the Sydney Film Festival . The film was officially released in selected German cinemas on July 13, 2017. Films Boutique took over international sales.

reception

Age rating

In Germany the film is FSK 16 . The statement of reasons for the release states: “The calm and artfully staged film is characterized by an eerie and tense atmosphere. There are a number of intense scenes, for example when a pig is eviscerated, or when two pilgrims tie up and humiliate the ornithologist. Young people from the age of 16 are able to view these scenes as part of the symbolic story and to process them accordingly. "

Reviews

Fernando tied to a tree suffers a martyrdom like Saint Sebastian , here in a representation by Antonello da Messina

So far, the film has won over 87 percent of Rotten Tomatoes ' critics .

Dominik Kamalzadeh from Der Standard explains that the film tells of a transformation that is closely tied to a direct sense of nature: “The stations go back loosely to those of St. Anthony , a 13th century Franciscan who Rodrigues regards as a queer icon. His Antonius not only prays to fish, but also has sex on the bank with a deaf and mute shepherd, who looks like a greeting from Pasolini . He meets Amazon-like horsewomen and dervish-like devils. With the brilliant sound design - the music comes from Séverine Ballon - Rodrigues underlines the haunting quality of his film. "

Mathieu Macheret from Le Monde says: "The formal beauty of the film, its flowery symbolism, its utter unpredictability and its intoxicating end mark one of the most beautiful cinematic journeys of recent years."

Christiane Peitz from Tagesspiegel also thinks that flora and fauna developed an aura in the film that eclipses any traditional epiphany and goes on to say: “Bondage martyr body, fingers in the side wound, Jesus and his disciples: it was time for someone translated the latent homoeroticism of Catholicism into cinematic magic. And even if Rodrigues exaggerates all the revelations that line Fernando's path, from drunken St. Vitus dancers to civilization rubbish totem poles to the bare-breasted Amazons who are brought up with bows and arrows - his evocation of human primal fears has great suggestive power. "

The martyrdom of Fernando who was tied to a tree, which João Pedro Rodrigues brought into the film, was also repeatedly taken up by critics, as it is very similar to the suffering of Saint Sebastian , as the martyr is shown in most paintings. The two Chinese pilgrims want to recreate Fernando's martyrdom with Fernando. The original film poster also shows Fernando in a pose similar to the saints in other iconographic representations.

Dirk Peitz from Zeit Online says that the film can gradually be recognized as an allegory, as a modern tale based on some legends about Antonius, the Portuguese national saint: “Fernando will also preach to fish like Antonius once did, and his speech is also reflected in his speech the bird sermon by Antonius' contemporary, Francis of Assisi : One addressed the fish as brothers, the other addressed the birds, with very different degrees of success and very different intentions. "

Awards (selection)

Locarno International Film Festival 2016

  • Award as best director in the main competition ( João Pedro Rodrigues )
  • Nomination for Best Film for the Golden Leopard (João Pedro Rodrigues)

International Istanbul Film Festival 2017

  • Awarded the Golden Tulip in the international competition (João Pedro Rodrigues)

Mexico's Fenix ​​Ibero-American Film Awards 2017

  • Nomination for Best Film (João Pedro Rodrigues)
  • Nomination for Best Director (João Pedro Rodrigues)
  • Nomination for the best sound / sound editing ( Nuno Carvalho )

Seattle International Film Festivals 2017

  • Nomination in the Contemporary World Cinema section
  • Nomination in the Futurewave section
  • Nomination in the New American Cinema section

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Release certificate for Der Ornithologe . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry (PDF; test number: 168259 / K). Template: FSK / maintenance / type not set and Par. 1 longer than 4 characters
  2. ↑ a b c The Ornithologist In: houseonfire.fr. Retrieved May 27, 2017.
  3. ↑ Concorso internazionale: O Ornitólogo (The Ornithologist) In: pardolive.ch. Retrieved May 28, 2017.
  4. ↑ http://www.salzgeber.de/presse/pressehefte/todielikeaman_ph.pdf
  5. ↑ Michael Kienzl: Der Ornithologe In: critic.de, October 27, 2016.
  6. ↑ a b c Andréa Picard: The Ornithologist ( Memento of the original from May 5, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.tiff.net archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: tiff.net. Retrieved May 27, 2017.
  7. ↑ Der Ornithologe In: kino.de. Retrieved June 1, 2017.
  8. ↑ a b Emocion Pura: Cinema from Spain In: siff.net. Retrieved May 27, 2017.
  9. ↑ O Ornitólogo In: cinematheque.ch. Retrieved June 1, 2017.
  10. ↑ Divulgadas as primeiras imagens de O Ornitólogo In: ica-ip.pt, January 26, 2016.
  11. ^ A b Film programs and Competitions: Contemporary World Cinema In: siff.net. Retrieved May 26, 2017.
  12. ^ Reason for release for Der Ornithologe In: Freiwillige Selbstkontrolle der Filmwirtschaft. Retrieved July 13, 2017.
  13. ↑ The Ornithologist In. Rotten tomatoes. Retrieved June 9, 2019.
  14. ↑ Dominik Kamalzadeh: 'O Ornitólogo': Metamorphosis in the Green In: derstandard.at, October 20, 2016.
  15. ↑ En savoir plus sur Mathieu Macheret: 'L'Ornithologue': un chemin de croix jalonné de drôles d'oiseaux In: Le Monde, November 29, 2016.
  16. ↑ Christiane Peitz: João Pedro Rodrigues' 'The Ornithologist'. Wanderer between the worlds In: Der Tagesspiegel, July 13, 2017.
  17. ↑ Andrew Chan: Review: The Ornithologist In: filmcomment.com, May / June 2017 issue.
  18. ↑ The ornithologist. Filmplakat In: critic.de. Retrieved May 28, 2017.
  19. ↑ Dirk Peitz: 'Der Ornithologe': The Passion of Fernando In: Zeit Online, July 13, 2017.
  20. ^ Locarno Film Festival: the winners In: Der Tagesspiegel, August 13, 2016.
  21. ↑ http://variety.com/2017/film/awards/mexicos-fenix-ibero-american-film-awards-honor-tv-series-first-time-1202586833/
  22. ^ Film programs and competitions: Futurewave In: siff.net. Retrieved May 27, 2017.
  23. ↑ Film programs and competitions: New American Cinema ( Memento of the original from July 28, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.siff.net archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: siff.net. Retrieved May 18, 2017.