Saturday, March 07, 2015

Birdhouse

GB 2014. Fiction. PC: National Film and Television School. P: Franziska Lindner, Nik Powell. D: Pekka Saari. SC: Pekka Saari, Islay Bell-Webb. DP: Tristan Chenais. PD: Paul Savulescu. M: Lyndon Holland. S: Márton Kristóf, Simon Gill. ED: Yann Heckmann. M: Lyndon Holland. C: Grace Hogg-Robinson (Hannah), Mark Aiken (Mark), Oliver Kennedy (Elijah), Chandrika Chevli (Sally), Beatrice Curnew (Lisa). 25 min
    Filmed on location in Snowdonia National Park, Wales.
    http://www.pekkasaari.com/birdhouse/
    In English. 
    Tampere Film Festival (National Competition 11), Saturday, 7 March 2015

TFF: "During a lakeside holiday, 14-year old Hannah isn’t best pleased to have been dragged to the middle of nowhere with her step-dad Andreas whom she cannot stand. Hannah is convinced that he is trying to get rid of her. Andreas, on the other hand, is certain that there is something wrong with the girl and is trying to convince Hannah's insecure mother Lisa to send her to a facility. The hostility between the two grows. To get away from it all, Hannah wanders away from the lake house where they’re staying. In the woods behind it, she is befriended by the charismatic but mysterious Elijah – he’s older than her, wild and probably dangerous. And he’s prompting Hannah to stand up against Andreas. As his influence over Hannah grows and her relationship with her step-dad deteriorates, events by the lake take a decidedly sinister turn… "

AA: A sensitive portrait of a shy, awkward teenage girl arriving at a holiday summer place by the lake. Hannah does not fit in at all with her current circumstances with a new threatening stepfather but connects instantly with the stranger Elijah whom she meets in the forest by the lake. Hannah tells Elijah that her stepdad has killed her dog. There is a fine sense of atmosphere and alienation. At night Hannah overhears the stepdad's plans to have her relocated in an institution. Hannah: "I don't like water. I don't like something underneath that I cannot see". But there is a violent and tragic climax on the lake.    There is a  good sense of atmosphere and suspense. The performances are interesting and original. The cinematography and the production are assured and effective.

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