Andrea Arnold’s work has played a pivotal role in my life since I saw Fish Tank at age nine.
Her films are consistently filled with feminine agency, violence and bravery due to circumstance. The characters feel, and are, real women who live through this shit every day.
In an industry filled with wealthy, white, cis men telling stories that are not their own – Andrea Arnold’s success throughout her career proves the value authenticity has within storytelling.
When watching Bird I couldn’t help but smile at how this film feels like a nod to Arnold’s debut film Fish Tank at times shot for shot, at other times a protagonist’s black tracksuit hoodie for another protagonists infamous grey tracksuit set. Bird feels like Arnold tapping back into the Fish Tank world embedded with discoveries in life she has made since making that film.
You can never deny Arnold’s exceptional world-building, within the first five minutes ‘Bailey’ (played by Nykiya Adams) is swept up by her dad ‘Bug’ (played by Barry Keoghan) on a rental lime scooter and taken home to her public housing flat. They pass characters we see every day and we don’t catch everything they are saying. The cinematography by long-term collaborator Robbie Ryan, enhances this feeling of following real people in the middle of their goals and aims as if we are there with them.
As the plot progresses, we see that Bailey has torn relationships with almost everyone she interacts with because they are too busy thinking about themselves. Bailey’s isolation comes from a feeling of being an outsider; of wanting to be considered one of the boys, wanting her dad to like her the way she is, wanting someone to support her instead of Bailey having to support everyone else. This part of the film felt like a potential catalyst for Arnold to explore Bailey’s relationship with masculinity, gender and identity that would have made ‘Bird’ an exceptionally great film. However, the film doesn’t land any of these opportunities for arcs and instead falls into a similar arc of her debut film.
However, it is in a field in the middle of nowhere, that Bailey meets ‘Bird’ (played by Franz Rogowski) where Bailey finds another outsider who understands on some weird level what it is to feel different from others. This relationship, combined with some new stylistic and fantastical changes in Arnold’s style, were exciting to watch Arnold explore. Whether they were successful or not is not the point – it is Arnold’s bravery to try new things that allows us to think further about Bailey’s journey. I find that very exciting.
I love what Andrea Arnold does. I love what she cares about. Bird is another example of work that is filled with authenticity and a genuine desire to represent these characters with integrity, wit and strength. In the same vein, Arnold’s decisions to explore stylistically while remaining true to her perspective speaks to the next generation of filmmakers; don’t be scared to try new things and evolve your tone and voice with each film you make.
Review by Laneikka Denne