AdventureDramaMystery

The Ornithologist

- Things happen, you just have to believe.

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.

Release Date : 2016-09-16

Language :EnglishPortugueseMandarinGalicianFrenchLatin

Adult : false

Status : Released

Production Company : BlackmariaHouse on FireItaca FilmsLe FresnoyICAMinistério da CulturaRTPCNCMinistère des Affaires ÉtrangèresInstitut FrançaisAgência Nacional do Cinema - ANCINE

Production Country : BrazilFrancePortugal

Alternative Titles :

Cast

Character Name : Fernando

Original Name : Paul Hamy

Gender : Male

Character Name : António

Original Name : João Pedro Rodrigues

Gender : Male

Character Name : Jesus / Tomé

Original Name : Xelo Cagiao

Gender : Male

Character Name : Fei

Original Name : Han Wen

Gender : Female

Character Name : Ling

Original Name : Chan Suan

Gender : Male

Character Name : Blonde Huntress

Original Name : Jules Elting

Gender : Male

Character Name : Huntress 1

Original Name : Flora Bulcão

Gender : Male

Character Name : Huntress 2

Original Name : Isabelle Puntel

Gender : Male

Character Name :

Original Name : Alexandre Alverca

Gender : Male

Character Name :

Original Name : André Freitas

Gender : Male

Character Name :

Original Name : David Silva Pereira

Gender : Male

Character Name :

Original Name : Gil Mendes da Silva

Gender : Male

Character Name :

Original Name : Miguel Ângelo Marujo

Gender : Male

Character Name :

Original Name : Nuno Santos

Gender : Male

Character Name :

Original Name : Ricardo Jorge

Gender : Male

Character Name :

Original Name : Alessandra Marquez

Gender : Female

Reviews

CinemaSerf

@Geronimo1967

2024-08-25

"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.