Starring: Hugo Weaving, Don Hany, Xavier Samuel, Mark Leonard Winter, Anthony Hayes
Distributor: Independent
Runtime: 119 mins. Reviewed in May 2014
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Carrying the same title as a 2012 Filipino horror film, this is a very different kind of movie.
It is an Australian drama film, set in regional Victoria, which is inspired by a story written by journalist, Geoff Strong, that was published in The Age in 1998. It is about the bringing together of prisoners at Won Wron prison, Victoria, and birds of prey at the Healesville Wildlife Sanctuary in Victoria. Inmates at the low-security correctional centre, which closed in late 2004, were given the responsibility of rehabilitating injured birds in its “Raptor Rehabilitation Program”. The program helped the birds return to the wild, but also exposed prisoners to an environment that tried to facilitate genuine caring.
In the film, Don Hany plays Viktor Khadem, who is a prisoner nearing the end of a long sentence. He has over a year remaining of a 18 year sentence for killing his best friend, and he is broken in spirit, ashamed, lost, and forsaken. He feels totally estranged from his Iranian son, and doesn’t think he has anything to look forward to when he is released.
Hugo Weaving plays a prison case officer, Matt Perry, who initiates the program of healing for the injured birds, and makes Viktor its supervisor against the advice he receives from others. Xavier Samuel, Anthony Hayes, and Mark Leonard Winter play the roles of inmates, who also have significant emotional issues to resolve.
An expert bird-handler was used on the film to help the cast handle the birds of prey, and Hugo Weaving has worked with the Director of the movie (Craig Monahan) successfully in the past in quality films such as “The Interview” (1998). In this film, Weaving captures brilliantly the conflicts involved in being someone in authority who cares for others, but has the responsibility for disciplining them as well.
The real star of the film is the injured raptor, Yasmine. She is a proud eagle with a 2-metre wing span, and is a magnificent bird of prey. The animal befriends Viktor cautiously, as both bird and human learn to trust each other. The therapeutic benefit of Yasmine to Viktor becomes obvious. The affection of Viktor for the bird gives the animal the confidence it needs to return to its natural environment, but the bird’s affection for her carer draws it back to Viktor. The interactions between Viktor and Yasmine are wonderful.
In the movie, a wider theme develops as the movie progresses. The film pits the soul of a human who has been confined against the spirit of an animal who has been caged after being hurt. Being anthropomorphic for the moment, both animal and prisoner seem to come to a mutual understanding of what it means to leave their confinement behind, and to experience freedom again. Drama also unfolds in the background. Many of the humans in this film – prisoners and officers alike – have their own conflicts to resolve. The film takes time to elaborate them, and attempts satisfactorily to bring them to some emotional conclusion.
The photography in the film is outstanding, and its impact is enhanced by the familiarity of Victoria’s landscapes and its misty, watery settings. The fluid editing that moves us from landscapes to animals to humans is particularly good. Especially impressive are the flying, swooping, and landings of Yasmine as she adjusts to the hazards of rehabilitation in her training environment. And as she does, the benefits she brings to Viktor become amazingly tangible.
This is a movie that has an inspiring theme which is potentially educational to children as well as to adults. It has strong language in it that is true to the character portrayal of prisoners and their officers. The movie’s classification warns that it could be unsuitable for children’s viewing, but the overall impact of the movie is a gentle, up-lifting one.
This is a hope-filled film that has a dramatic tale of redemption to tell. It is entertaining, enjoyable, and educational, and there is a moving truth to its telling that is memorable. So far this year, this is the best Australian movie to come down the cinema track.
12 Random Films…
