The long-awaited return to fiction filmmaking from Academy Award-winner Andrea Arnold, Bird is a tender, striking and extraordinarily surprising coming-of-age fable about marginalised life in the fringes of contemporary society. 12-year-old Bailey (astounding newcomer Nykiya Adams) lives with her devoted but chaotic single dad Bug (Barry Keoghan) and wayward brother Hunter in a squat in Gravesend. Approaching puberty and seeking attention and adventure, Bailey’s fractured home life is transformed when she encounters Bird (Franz Rogowski), a mysterious stranger on a journey of his own. A wondrous portrait of the transition from childhood to adolescence that remains grounded in her typically empathetic social realism, Arnold’s latest strides to the wildly poetic rhythm of her own drum.
The Garden Cinema View:
Whilst looking every inch an Andrea Arnold film shot by Robbie Ryan, with familiar elements of Fish Tank and American Honey, Bird is nevertheless the most bonkers entry in her filmography to date. A kind of mash-up of The Florida Project, Wings of Desire, and Tracy Beaker, filtered through a soundtrack to an Adam Curtis film (original score from Burial), Bird can feel dizzyingly energetic, distinctly odd and outlandish, and very authentic, often within the same scene. Ultimately this is a tender coming-of-age tale, rooted by a fantastic central performance (Nykiya Adams – a great discovery), and textured by poetic imagery and a quirky use of music. Barry Keoghan and Franz Rogowski provide scene chewing extravagance, which plays into their respective star personas. However you feel about this heady concoction, Bird is undeniably fascinating and enjoyable.
