The death bird
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The death bird |
| Original title | The cormorant |
| Country of production | United Kingdom |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1993 |
| length | 90 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Peter Markham |
| script | Peter Ransley |
| production | Andrew Holmes, Ruth Kenley-Letts |
| music | Stephen Fish |
| camera | Ashley Rowe |
| cut | Tim Kruydenburg |
| occupation | |
| |
The bird of death ( The Cormorant ) is a British psychological thriller by Peter Markham in 1993. The screenplay is based on the novel of the Welsh author Stephen Gregory from the year 1986th
content
The writer John Talbot inherited a lonely cottage in Wales near the coast from his uncle . Talbot is married with a four-year-old son and is not very successful as a writer. The family therefore welcomes the inheritance. In a conversation with the notary, however, it turns out that Talbot inherits the house only on condition that he takes care of the uncle's - allegedly - tame cormorant . If he doesn't accept the bird, he won't get the house either.
When Talbot opens the transport box in the living room, the bird escapes flapping wildly, stains the table and carpet with its droppings and leaves a trail of devastation. Talbot only succeeds with difficulty in catching the bird again. The cormorant turns out to be a sinister creature, with a highly dangerous beak, sharp black eyes and a malicious character. While Talbot's wife reacts to the bird with horror and disgust, the little boy is fascinated by it and watches it silently, with wide eyes. Talbot calls the bird Archie. He borrows a book in which the art of Asians, with the help of cormorants to fish , is described. Talbot succeeds in getting the bird used to himself and training him to fish, but at the same time his relationship with his wife becomes increasingly precarious. His manic passion for the bird makes her panic. She perceives the animal as a threat to herself and the child. As the bird's aggressiveness and malice increase - it kills e.g. B. the family cat and not only bites Talbot's hand - Talbot's obsession grows at the same time. The portrait of his uncle on the cottage wall seems to be watching him, and memories of the time he spent with the uncle during the school holidays pop into Talbot's mind. He accompanied him on mudflat walks, learned the art of attracting birds from him, and his uncle once saved his life when he was caught in quicksand on the beach .
The situation escalates when the bird wreaks havoc over Christmas, and Talbot kills Archie to protect the family from the bird's aggressive dives. In order to finally free itself from the bird, it should not be buried but burned. You set up a pyre, and the fire spreads to the cottage, which goes up in flames. Talbot prevents the neighbors from putting out the fire.
production
The Bird of Death is the only feature film directed by Peter Markham. The low budget film was made in Snowdonia , Wales by Holmes Associates Prods. Filmed for BBC Wales .
The film aired on February 21, 1993 on BBC Wales' Screen Two series . It was shown in New York in December 1994 as part of a BBC retrospective and in April 1995 at the Joseph Papp Public Theater, at the same time as Ralph Fiennes' guest appearance at the Belasco Theater as Hamlet in Shakespeare's play. The film, of which neither a video nor a DVD was produced by the BBC, can only be accessed via YouTube .
Awards
The film won two BAFTA Film Awards :
- Stephen Fish: Welsh BAFTA best sound winner
- Ashley Rowe: Welsh BAFTA, best cinematography - film
Reviews
Variety's Tony Scott praises the performance of the actors, especially Ralph Fiennes, who can be seen on screen for most of the film. He plays John Talbot so believably that his madness makes its own sense ("that John's madness makes its own sense"). Markham made a very dense film, exquisitely photographed by Ashley Rowe and sensitively edited by Tim Kruydenberg, so that the disturbing mood of the film is maintained even in the quietest scenes.
Cary James of the New York Times calls the film a quirky, modestly psychological thriller . The film has probably never been shown in the USA without Fienne 's fame since Schindler's List and Quiz Show . However, he does not have the occasionally embarrassing and funny aura of early films by a star who has come to fame. The film, nicely shot against the backdrop of a village on the coast, has its own charm.
literature
- Stephen Gregory : The Cormorant . 1986. Reissued in 2013 by Richmond, VA, Valancourt Books. New introduction by the author.
- German: The death bird . Munich: Knaur 1990.
Web links
- Variety
- The cormorant
- The death of birds in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ BFI.org.uk
- ^ NYU, Alumni, accessed May 7, 2016.
- ^ Caryn James: Film Review: Writer, Nice Guy, Has Crush on Bird in: The New York Times. April 14, 1995, accessed May 9, 2016.
- ^ Screen 2. The Cormorant 1993 , accessed May 10, 2016.
- ↑ IMDb
- ↑ IMDb , accessed on May 7, 2016.
- ^ Variety , June 23, 1995, accessed May 9, 2016
- ^ Caryn James: Film Review: Writer, Nice Guy, Has Crush on Bird in: The New York Times. April 14, 1995, accessed May 9, 2016.