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The Cormorant
This made-for-TV movie is just so bizarre I had to review it.
It's a mix of Gremlins, The Raven and Moby Dick. A young writer (Ralph Fiennes) and his wife (Helen Scheslinger) are left a beautiful house in remote Wales by the writer's eccentric uncle. He has also left them a creepy bird (the cormorant). The couple feel unable to cope with the bird as they have a young child- however the uncle has left them the house only on the condition that they look after his bird.
The bird is a menacing Rasputin who the couple seem unable to get rid of. However after reading about cormorants that are kept on leads as pets, the writer becomes obsessed with the bird, in an almost romantic way as he neglects his wife and endangers his child in his refusal to let the bird go- a bird that may well be cursed.
There's an interesting twist in the implication that the bird was the uncle's familiar (an animal assisting the uncle in his dark magic). This bird actually has some character and is genuinely quite spooky. In one of his earliest roles, Fiennes is very good- darkly comic, disturbed, adorable. Ironically later roles have not given him the opportunity to play that many different sides. And on a more shallow note, he looks pretty gorgeous here.
The film is a little dated and will probably only appeal to a niche amount of people but if you're a fan of classic ghost stories, the eerie atmosphere of The Cormorant may well appeal.
This made-for-TV movie is just so bizarre I had to review it.
It's a mix of Gremlins, The Raven and Moby Dick. A young writer (Ralph Fiennes) and his wife (Helen Scheslinger) are left a beautiful house in remote Wales by the writer's eccentric uncle. He has also left them a creepy bird (the cormorant). The couple feel unable to cope with the bird as they have a young child- however the uncle has left them the house only on the condition that they look after his bird.
The bird is a menacing Rasputin who the couple seem unable to get rid of. However after reading about cormorants that are kept on leads as pets, the writer becomes obsessed with the bird, in an almost romantic way as he neglects his wife and endangers his child in his refusal to let the bird go- a bird that may well be cursed.
There's an interesting twist in the implication that the bird was the uncle's familiar (an animal assisting the uncle in his dark magic). This bird actually has some character and is genuinely quite spooky. In one of his earliest roles, Fiennes is very good- darkly comic, disturbed, adorable. Ironically later roles have not given him the opportunity to play that many different sides. And on a more shallow note, he looks pretty gorgeous here.
The film is a little dated and will probably only appeal to a niche amount of people but if you're a fan of classic ghost stories, the eerie atmosphere of The Cormorant may well appeal.