The Nightingale (2018 film)

The Nightingale
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJennifer Kent
Written byJennifer Kent
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyRadek Ładczuk
Edited bySimon Njoo
Music byJed Kurzel
Production
companies
Distributed byTransmission Films
Release dates
  • 6 September 2018 (2018-09-06) (Venice)
  • 29 August 2019 (2019-08-29) (Australia)
Running time
136 minutes[2]
CountryAustralia
Languages
  • English
  • Irish
Budget$2 million[3]
Box office$988,687[4][5]

The Nightingale is a 2018 Australian historical psychological thriller film written and directed by Jennifer Kent.[6][7][8] The film stars Aisling Franciosi, Sam Claflin, Baykali Ganambarr, Damon Herriman, Harry Greenwood, Ewen Leslie, Charlie Shotwell, Michael Sheasby, and Magnolia Maymuru. Set in 1825 in Van Diemen's Land, it follows a young Irish convict (Franciosi) seeking vengeance against members of the Colonial forces of Tasmania who gang raped her and killed both her husband and infant daughter. She is aided by an Aboriginal Tasmanian tracker (Ganambarr), who seeks vengeance for the British occupiers' Black War against his people.

The Nightingale premiered at the 75th Venice International Film Festival on 6 September 2018, where it was nominated for the Golden Lion and won the Special Jury Prize, while Ganambarr won the Marcello Mastroianni Award. The film was theatrically released in Australia on 29 August 2019 and was a box office failure, grossing only $988,687 against its $2 million production budget. Despite generating controversy for its graphic portrayal of rape and murder, it received critical acclaim, with particular praise for Kent's direction, the performances of the cast, and acknowledgement of racial violence in Australia. It is the first film to include palawa kani, a reconstructed form of the once extinct Tasmanian languages.

The Nightingale received a leading 15 nominations at the 9th AACTA Awards, winning 6, including Best Film, Best Direction and Best Screenplay, Original or Adapted for Kent, Best Actress for Franciosi, and Best Supporting Actress for Maymuru.

  1. ^ McNary, Dave (14 March 2017). ""Sam Claflin Thriller 'The Nightingale' Backed by Bron Creative"". Variety. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  2. ^ "The Nightingale". Venice International Film Festival. 18 July 2018. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
  3. ^ Cotroneo, Vincent (22 November 2022). "Why The Nightingale Deserves Just as Much Acclaim as The Babadook". MovieWeb. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
  4. ^ "The Nightingale (2019)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
  5. ^ "The Nightingale (2019)". The Numbers. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
  6. ^ Chang, Justin (31 January 2019). "Jennifer Kent's 'The Nightingale' and Joanna Hogg's 'The Souvenir' bring boldly personal visions to Sundance". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
  7. ^ Rooney, David (6 September 2018). "'The Nightingale': Film Review, Venice 2018". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
  8. ^ Dowd, A.A. (1 August 2019). "Babadook director Jennifer Kent returns with a great, harrowing Western, The Nightingale". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 11 March 2021.