Watch Uncle Bird's Adventures

Clementine 2022-03-09 08:01:27

João Pedro Rodrigues João Pedro Rodrigues is an eccentric director from Portugal known for
his shocking debut, O Fantasma.

Hua's latest work, The Ornithologist, won the Golden Leopard Award for Best Director at the 69th Locarno International Film Festival in 2016, and despite being nominated several times by several major film festivals over the years, his work is also Hu A, who was well received in the small circle, but was finally confirmed until this time, can be regarded as a daughter-in-law who has become a mother-in-law for many years.

Niche directors have to rely on the mainstream if they want to win awards. "Ornithologist" hitchhiked with Christianity, keeping the weirdness while giving the film some "educational significance", which won the approval of the judges It seems easier.

Hua is good at taking a man's one-man show, and this time is no exception. He found a handsome uncle to play an ornithologist alone in nature watching birds. The uncle took the binoculars and rowed a canoe to observe all kinds of birds in the river. It was extremely high, but unfortunately he was fascinated, but he didn't realize that he was already in the rapids. He was involved in the rapids, a The waves overturned him.

As soon as the camera turned, two Chinese girls who spoke blunt Mandarin were exploring in the forest, looking for a Christian temple. The two behaved strangely, and they were a pair of lace edges. They got lost in the forest, and unexpectedly found the fainted uncle Kanniao. The two picked up the uncle and gave him artificial respiration, which saved his life.

After the uncle woke up, he communicated with the two Chinese girls in English. The two Chinese girls asked the uncle to take them with them, saying that there were devils in the forest, but the uncle said that the place he was going was going in the opposite direction of the Chinese girls, and he did not believe in Christianity, so he refused their request. The Chinese girl gave the uncle a Chinese medicine from China, and the uncle fell asleep.

The next day, when the uncle opened his eyes, he found that he had been bound into a zongzi by a naked SM style! WTF! The two Chinese girls turned out to be perverted gods. They were going to torture the uncle and plan to castrate him! Fortunately, the uncle's body was great, he broke free from the bondage while it was dark, and ran away.

In the jungle in the middle of the night, there are many strange appearances, and a group of neurotic people wearing strange, bird-like costumes hold cult sacrifice activities. The uncle watched their carnival in fear, but felt strange excitement in his heart. A cult member suddenly had a urgency to urinate and drenched a bubble of urine on the head of the uncle who was hiding below. The uncle's face showed a satisfied expression.

The next day, the uncle found the way he came, but found that his car and personal belongings had been stolen, and the canoe had been split, so he had to camp on the beach. But then another strange man came, who was deaf and mute, and who wrote his name on the ground as Jesus. The weirdo was tending sheep by the river, giving the uncle food and water, and playing with the uncle in the river with his bare buttocks. The weird director Hua finally couldn't hold back his weird sexual interest, and arranged for the uncle and Jesus to meet impatiently. Rolled together naked on the beach.

After the lingering, Jesus took out the shirt from the bag and put it on, but the uncle found that it was the one he had thrown away. In the process of tearing, a knife was inserted into Jesus' body, and Jesus died.

The ridiculous plot made the audience almost collapse. But the more outrageous it is, the less shock it will bring, and the subsequent plot will become more and more blunt. Uncle escapes into a forgotten church and is shot by a group of shirtless huntresses, but he refuses to be rescued. After that, the uncle met a resurrected man who looked like Jesus. This man was wearing a cult costume and claimed to be a brother with Jesus, the sheep shepherd. He killed the uncle for revenge. When the uncle was cut his throat, his face became the director himself.


It turns out that this movie shows the director's mental journey. In the movie, he killed himself without faith, atone for his sins, and then plunged into the arms of Jesus. The hatred between the two was cleared, and they walked out of the jungle hand in hand and walked towards happiness. Eventually, the two meet a Chinese girl in town, and their lesbian partner offers religious blessings to their gay partner.

I don't like "The Ornithologist" very much. It's a bit long, deliberate, and a bit silly. It lacks the vigor and agility in "Fantasy". It pretends to be an alternative for the sake of attracting attention. It's almost low-level fun.

It is worth mentioning that Director Hu A is also particularly interested in Chinese culture. He has directed many Chinese-themed works and participated in the Taipei Film Festival.

View more about The Ornithologist reviews

Extended Reading
  • Ephraim 2022-04-24 07:01:25

    Its excellence is not entirely due to the transformation of the metaphorical perspective of man and bird, but also the experience of getting better and better under the laying of a large number of symbols and religious allusions. The director mentioned the "divine authority" denied by Laota in "Stalker" on the image. Analysis, in the story of "Atheists abandon their identities and determine theism under the extradition of the jungle adventure", the director attributes the "unknown" to God, not to miracles, which is the fundamental difference and gap with the old tower. ★★★

  • Jensen 2022-03-18 09:01:09

    There is a saying that encounters are more credible when two Koreans preach.