Death takes many forms. This most feared and enduring character has been depicted as a chess ace (The Seventh Seal), Brad Pitt (Meet Joe Black) and even an animated wolf (the less than bone-chilling Puss in Boots: The Last Wish). But a talking parrot who just needs a friend? Now that’s bound to ruffle some feathers.
Indeed, this wildly original debut feature from Croatian writer-director Daina O. Pusić has ‘divisive’ written all over it. The film takes on a dream logic that’s unlike anything else you’ll see this year, with an often masterly central performance from Seinfeld superstar Julia Louis-Dreyfus and immersive special effects rarely seen in arthouse cinema. Unfortunately, its intriguing conceit is also hampered by comatose chemistry, a claustrophobic setting and a slew of dead one-liners.
Louis-Dreyfus plays the nervy Zora, whose daughter, Tuesday (Lola Petticrew), is all but bed-bound by a terminal illness. Zora claims to cut and run from their comfortable home every day to attend her high-flying job, but in fact roams around London in a doomed attempt to distract herself from the inevitable, leaving Tuesday in the care of deadpan nurse Billie (an underused Leah Harvey). The film’s opening scenes depict an impressively rendered CGI macaw visiting frightened people in their final moments; it’s not long before he’s flapped down to poke his crooked beak in Tuesday’s direction.
Yet the teenager possesses a disarming charm that wins over the bird, who’s been callused by his centuries as a reviled figure. When he manages to find his voice again (it’s been 200 years since anyone wanted to talk to him), he spits gruffly: “I’ve never had a friend. All the beings in the world fear and despise me.” Death is voiced by Arinzé Kene, who recently played Bob Marley in the West End musical Get Up, Stand Up!. Given the gnarled rasp he brings to this role – it constantly sounds like he’s about to cough up a bag of screws – the man clearly has range.
Louis-Dreyfus scythes compellingly between lightly zany and mortal panic, but she and Petticrew are never really convincing as mother and daughter. The biggest problem, though, is the script, which is littered with stilted dialogue you’d more readily expect from a daytime soap than a magical realist fantasy that ambitiously (if not altogether successfully) seeks to combine comedy with thought-provoking drama.
Surreal events within Tuesday and Zora’s home hugely impact the outside world, but there’s little sense of what’s actually going on out there. On the plus side, you can’t fault this flick for imagination and it certainly has a lot of soul. Tuesday and Death’s relationship is actually the most believable in the film, leading to a fabulously feel-good dance-off to Ice Cube’s ‘It Was A Good Day’ and a weirdly moving scene in which she washes grime from her pal’s feathers.
Even if the concept doesn’t quite come off and the conclusion is a little pat, this is a unique and big-hearted debut from a filmmaker whose journey is well worth following as she takes flight.
Details
- Director: Daina O. Pusić
- Starring: Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Lola Petticrew, Arinzé Kene
- Release date: August 9 (in UK cinemas)
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