'H is for Hawk' is a restrained drama that follows Goshawk's quiet study of grief and transformation. However, is this deeply philosophical chapter worth your watch? Let's find out.
H is for Hawk is here, and it's safe to say that fans won't have to look too far to spot a hawk in the film either. While the opening credits themselves kick off with a magnificent close-up of the hawk's feathers, it takes a while before we get to see the actual goshawk, 'Mabel'. As fans huddle to see what the film is about, let us give you a quick overview of Philippa Lowthrope and Emma Donoghue's drama. Warning: Spoilers ahead!
H is for Hawk is based on Helen Macdonald's 2014 memoir. Directed by Philippa Lowthorpe and Emma Donoghue (Room), it follows the story of a grief-stricken woman played by Claire Foy, whom Philippa has previously directed in Claire's Emmy-winning second season of The Crown. In the story, Claire plays the lead role of 'Helen Macdonald', a Cambridge academic sunk in grief by the sudden death of her father (Brendan Gleeson), a celebrated photojournalist.
H is for Hawk is an emotional story about the bond between a father and daughter. In a lighthearted flashback, they share a maverick streak, a lightly aslant sense of humour, and a passion for the natural world. A touching moment in the car catches the pair in a mirroring pose, staring up and out the windshield, heads tilted in admiration at a hawk in flight. Hence, a hawk is where 'Helen' pours her grief or rather tries to distract herself from it.
In attempts to lessen the pain 'Helen' feels from losing her father, she levels up and acquires a goshawk. 'Helen', an experienced falconer, refuses to re-route to a creature any less challenging and says, "I don't want a ladybird," while her experienced falconer friend, 'Stuart', calls the goshawk a "perfectly evolved psychopath." The filmmakers have exceptionally captured 'Helen's' profound respect for these elegant predators, with the way they introduce 'Mabel' on the hunt with ceremony, even as the chase scene makes our hearts race.
They've visualised something 'Helen' tried to verbalise to her students about the holiness in bearing witness to 'Mabel's' essential nature. While she mostly fails, given her own inner turmoil, it does not overshadow the creature's massiveness. In its portrait of someone both grief-stricken and obsessive, H Is for Hawk artfully channelled 'Helen's' own misdirection. Especially as 'Mabel's' training becomes so engrossing that the viewers almost forget for a minute that 'Helen' is barely keeping it together.
While it is what keeps 'Helen's' family and friends at bay, it soon becomes undeniable that she is not doing well at all. Claire Foy has handled the tricky characterisation with unmatched perfection, from mirroring 'Helen's' prickliness and anxiety to her steady, moving, dimming persona. The emotions have been beautifully translated without taking away from either element of the film.
H is for Hawk, in its truest form, is very sincere, straightforward, and compactly scoped. While the film feels gently out of fashion, it's not completely misplaced or lacking in connection, as subjects like parental loss are fairly universal experiences. On the downside, H is for Hawk's insights are familiar but never enlightening. The goshawk is the revelation. For obvious reasons, she sits out the film's climactic, church-set eulogy, which is well written and performed, but it feels like the climax to a different movie.
What are your thoughts on H is for Hawk? Let us know.
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