H is for Hawk is an engrossing personal journey through bereavement and how to train a hawk.
H is for Hawk brings Helen Macdonald’s much-loved book about the loss of a father and dealing with grief to the big screen. Including some wonderfully shot natural scenes and featuring fine acting, H is for Hawk is an engrossing personal journey through bereavement.
H is for Hawk follows the story of Helen Macdonald (Claire Foy) a Fellow at Cambridge who has a deep relationship with her press photographer father, Alisdair (Brendan Gleeson). Throughout the film flashbacks scenes are used to highlight their bond. While on a job in London, Alisdair dies and Helen doesn’t cope with the loss well and begins to withdraw from her academic and social life.
Helen, as did her father, has a keen interest in ornithology and decides to train a goshawk which a friend, Stuart (Sam Spruell), warns would be difficult. Undaunted, she buys a young goshawk which she names Mabel and begins the challenging task of training her. Helen becomes absorbed by the training and the successes please her, but they come at the expense of everything else and brings her into conflict with her academic requirements, finding a new appointment, finding somewhere to live, and her personal relationships especially with her family.
With the rich source material of Macdonald’s original book to work with, director and co-writer Philippa Lowthorpe with co-writer Emma Donoghue bring the narrative to life with slow paced but never dull tempo. Fans of Macdonald’s book may be a little disappointed with the film’s ending which is not quite as conclusive as the book. The story also offers a fascinating look into the ancient skills of falconry and offers an insight into the morality of it.
Some of the best visual moments of the film are the hunting scenes with Mabel and Helen. Cinematographer Charlotte Bruus Christensen’s nature scenes are stunning using the natural light and sunshine to great effect. Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch’s score also adds weight and fits exceptionally well with the film.
Brendan Gleeson and Denise Gough as Helen’s academic friend, Christina doing a fairly good Australian accent, perform well as do the rest of the cast. Claire Foy (Golden Globe and Emmy winner for The Crown) is superb in the lead role bringing all emotions of the grieving Helen to clear display with brilliant skill.
H is for Hawk is an absorbing film about grief and falconry highlighted by Claire Foy’s marvelous performance with some outstanding nature scenes.
Reviewed by Rob McKinnon
Rating 4 out of 5
Distributor: Kismet Movies
