ASTHEFILMPROGRESSES,OURPROTAGONISTPAIRCOMETOUNDERSTAND
ONEANOTHER,FINDINGNOTSOLACEINEACHOTHER’SSTORIESOFHORROR
... BUTA KINDOFCOMMUNIONINTHEIRRIGHTEOUS AND WELL-EARNED
HATRED OF THEIR COMMON OPPRESSOR.Kurzel’s 2011 Snowtown, RidleyScott’s 2017 Alien:Covenant
and more – is still creditedas composer).Directorof photo-
graphyRadekLadczuk,whoalsoworkedonTheBabadook,
eschewsthewidescreenvistasandpainterlylandscapes
typicalofhistoricalepics,insteademployingtheAcademy
ratio to lock the narrativeand its charactersinto a confin-
ing, claustrophobicframe.And, despitethe tactilesense of
authenticitywith which Alex Holmes’productiondesign and
MargotWilson’scostumesimbueTheNightingale’s world,
Kent frequentlyfills the screenwith humanfaces – almost
invariablycontortedin fear,pain,angerandhate.
Most often,it’s Clare’sface that we are focusedon,
Franciosiskilfullyconveyingthecharacter’srageandagony
throughherexpressions.Thesesentimentsarebothover-
whelmingand whollyunderstandable.Even beforethe de-
plorableeventsthatfunctionasTheNightingale’s inciting
incidents,Clare is downtroddenand abused:she is forced
to sing for the entertainmentof visitingarmy officerCaptain
Goodwin(EwenLeslie)andberatedbyanotherfemaleservant
ofa slightlyhigherstation.Thelattermayseemlikea minor
interaction,but the film is extremelyinterestedin hierarchies
ofpower,which,in thisuniverse,areessentiallyhierarchiesof
crueltyandoppression.Thescullerymaidhasalmostnopower,
butwhatshedoeshave she uses to abuseClare.Similarly,
theambitiousHawkinsis cowedbyGoodwin,andvisitshis
frustrationsonhisownmen,mostnotablythevenalSergeant
Ruse(DamonHerriman)andthereluctantbutstillculpable
Jago(HarryGreenwood).TheevilsdepictedinTheNightingale
arenotindividual,eventhoughtheyarecarriedoutbyindivid-
ualcharacters.Theyaresystemic,self-replicatingandcyclical.
Thislastpointis drivenhomewhenHawkinscasuallytakesan
orphaned convict boy under his wing, arming him with a pistolandindoctrinatinghimintothecultureofviolence and author-
ity in which he is servingas an officer.
Andyet,althoughsheis raped,beatenandleftfordead,
Clare does not occupythe lowestpossiblerung in the world
ofTheNightingale. She is, after all, white;the plight of the lo-
cal Indigenouspeople,foregroundedthroughthe characterof
Billy, is infinitelyworse.The war of exterminationis presented
to us in the most forthrightof ways – black bodiesstrungfrom
trees,captiveAboriginalmencasuallyshotin theheadby
whiteguards,a nativewomankeptasa sexslave,aninfant
child left to presumablystarvein the bush. Indigenouschar-
acterssimplyrunwhentheyseewhitemencoming,know-
ing that their most likely fate is to be shot on the spot.
Clare is complicitin these racialisedacts of cruelty,even
treatingBilly as barelyhumanwhen they first meet; Billy re-
spondswithunconcealedhostilityandscorntowardsher.
As the film progresses,our protagonistpair come to under-
stand one another,findingnot solacein each other’sstoriesof
horror(duringone sojourn,Billy recountsthe massacreof his
entirefamily),buta kindofcommunionin theirrighteousand
well-earnedhatredoftheircommonoppressor.Kentcannily
drawsparallelsbetweenBilly’s and Clare’sexperiencesand
heritages.In one scene,after being describedas ‘English’
by her companion,Clare bristlesand angrilydeclaresherself
Irish – a protestthat calls to mind the centuries-longsubjuga-
tion inflictedby the formergroupon the latter. In an earlier
scene,Clare and Aidan speakGaelicwhen they are in their
own humblehut – linguisticallydemarcatingthemselvesfrom
the English-speakingmilitary/settlerclass – while, throughout
the film, Billy and the other IndigenousTasmaniansspeak
palawakani.^3 Thesemirroredaspectsof their respectivecul-
tures tie the pair together: beyond a history of conquest byAbove, L–R:Clare and Billy on their journey; Clare carrying a firearm10 • Metro Magazine 201 | © ATOM