This English speaking, biographical UK film tells the true story of a girl who rescues a goshawk falcon, following the death of her father.
H is for Hawk. Starring Claire Foy, Brendan Gleeson, Denise Gough, Sam Sprueli, and Lindsay Duncan. Directed by Phillipa Lowthorpe. Rated M (Coarse language). 119 min.
Review by Peter W Sheehan, Jesuit Media Australia
When her beloved father, Alistair MacDonald (Brendan Gleeson) passes away, Helen (Claire Foy) is stricken with grief. Her father died unexpectedly following a lifetime of work as a respected photojournalist of the behaviour of Falcon birds, and he shared all that he did with his daughter.
To help her recover, Helen purchases a young goshawk bird to cope with her grief. She decides to train the goshawk as a way of understanding her loss, and the film deals very authentically with the challenges of good falconry. Filming for the movie is excellent. Helen immerses herself with the discipline of Hawk training and she names her female bird, Mabel. Through detailed and time-consuming training sessions, Helen developed an intense relationship with Mabel that led her to understand more fully the bird’s habits and instincts. Slowly, she finds refuge from human concerns by absorbing herself in the pleasures of the natural world around her that she has helped to construct. But the pain of her grief is extreme, and lasting recovery from loss and full re-engagement with the human world are difficult goals to pursue. Final scenes show Helen in therapy for clinical depression, and the film concludes by showing us how difficult it will be for Mabel and Helen to disengage.
This is an inspiring nature film, beautifully photographed, acted, and directed that never lets go of the value of genuine human concern, and it is a film that may well be suitable for family viewing despite its M-rating classification. Also, the film is a welcome return to the cinema screen for Brendan Gleeson who takes the role of Helen’s father with great sensitivity. The moral lesson the movie teaches is a strong one: there is rich, human reward to find in turning away from resentment to experience the benefits of attachment and belongingness to others. And Mabel was a spirited goshawk who did just that.
Reviewed by Peter Sheehan, an Associate of Jesuit Media