The Ornithologist

2016

AdventureDramaMystery

Stranded along a sublime river fjord in northern Portugal, an ornithologist is subjected to a series of brutal and erotic Stations-of-the-Cross-style tests.

"Things happen, you just have to believe."

Rating

6.1
97 votes

Popularity

0.7992

Origin & Countries

BR | pt | Brazil,France,Portugal

Production

Blackmaria,House on Fire,Itaca Films,Le Fresnoy,ICA,Ministério da Cultura,RTP,CNC,Ministère des Affaires Étrangères,Institut Français,Agência Nacional do Cinema - ANCINE

Runtime

118 min.

Status

Released

Release: 9/16/2016

Credits

The Ornithologist

João Pedro RodriguesDirector

The Ornithologist

Paul HamyFernando

The Ornithologist

João Pedro RodriguesAntónio

The Ornithologist

Xelo CagiaoJesus / Tomé

The Ornithologist

Han WenFei

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Reviews

CinemaSerf

8/25/2024

6 / 10

"Fernando" (Paul Hamy) is out in the Portuguese wilderness doing a bit of birdwatching when he gets caught up in the rapids, his canoe is trashed and he finds himself rescued by two rather curious Chinese women - "Fei" (Han Wen) and her girlfriend "Ling" (Chan Suan). Things get a bit on the surreal side from this point as his journey continues and he next encounters the handsome, mute, goatherd "Jesus" (Xelo Cagiao) before a rather unfathomable tragedy ensues and the story takes on an almost fantastic nature that sees "Fernando" having to come to terms with his actions all under the supervision of a beautiful white dove that clearly has a more symbolic function as yet to be explained. Is he ever going to make it to civilisation? Does he really want to? It's quite a curious film, this, with no obvious purpose to it. Initially, it looks more like a natural history docudrama with some lovely photography of birds in their natural habitat and us (and him) as mere observers, but once his trip becomes less routine the story starts to head seriously off piste and becomes a bit too random for me. It's not that it isn't structured, it's that director João Pedro Rodrigues doesn't seem so bothered about taking us with him as his mind wanders for two hours of really quite eccentrically indulgent moviemaking. There's little rhyme-nor-reason to the second act, if you like, as "Fernando" discovers what looks like the abandoned garden from the late Michael Jackson's estate amidst the forest then some Amazonian type paintballers with Centaur aspirations! It's quirky and inquisitive about attitudes to faith - and not just 20th century faiths at that - and I did like the last five minutes, but on balance I found it quite a long watch to leave feeling slightly bamboozled.

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