Nightingale in a Music Box

I was visiting London planning to see things like Buckingham Palace and the big shows when I saw a poster advertising the Sci Fi London Film Festival. I noticed this film was showing. A friend in Chicago had told me I had to see it if I got a chance, and since I didn't think I'd have much chance in Pittsburgh, I decided to go.

I'm very glad I did. NIGHTINGALE is a very suspenseful and thought provoking thriller made from the simplest means possible. It features great performances from two actresses, Kelly Hazen and Catherine O'Connor. I mention them, because I've never heard of them before, but they deserve recognition. I hope to see them again. (I also liked the third actor, a Polish actor named Andrzej Krukowski, but it was clear in the Q & A after the showing that not everyone did. )

To be honest, I was kind of surprised a guy could write this film. The female characters were so smart and strong without ever being shrill or pushy. They never thought about romance. They didn't look to men to save or help them at any point. It was clear one of the agents didn't like having a woman giving him orders, but it never became an issue; and she either didn't notice it or didn't care.

After the screening I introduced myself to the director, and he said if I liked NIGHTINGALE, I should also see another film at the Fest, PRIMER by Shane Carruth, which I did. I liked it a lot too. So I ended up spending a good deal of my time in London watching American Sci-Fi Films, although I'm not sure I'd classify NIGHTINGALE as science fiction. PRIMER turns out to have distribution, and I'm sure it's going to be on DVD; but I'm particularly glad I saw NIGHTINGALE IN A MUSIC BOX, because I don't know that I'll ever have another chance to see it. I really hope it doesn't just disappear off the face of the earth. If you get a chance to see it, I'd jump at it.

I've been a fan of Andrzej Krukowski ever since his days in Polish television in the 1980s. I'm glad he's finally found a role in America worthy of his talent.

I went to see "Nightingale" purely because he was in it, but it was damn good too. Not your usual paint-kit Hollywood thriller. I will certainly look for another film by Hurt McDermott. I also thought the other actors were good, especially Kelley Hazen and Catherine O'Connor.

I had never heard of Merje Veski --what a lot of Eastern Europeans in this production--but I thought she gave the film a reel distinctive look.

I'd recommend it to anyone who likes to think at the movies, especially my fellow countrymen who want to see a fine, under-approved Polish actor.

At the Boston Independent Film Festival today, I chose to watch this movie on a whim, and am glad I did. I don't imagine that many people will enjoy this movie unless they have the patience to piece together the dialogue, the mysterious ambiguity of the dilemma and the clues that the director gives us along the way that help us unlock the truth.

The movie pivots on the relationship between Burke, the specialist in deprogramming brainwashed spies during the Cold War, and Robin McAllister, the woman who is caught stealing sensitive information and who has no idea who she is. We find out that she is somehow the unwitting victim of a "music teacher," who has programmed her to respond to certain stimuli, like a gum wrapper or a phrase. The reason why she has forgotten her identity and even her own children is that she is actually a "nightingale in a music box" -- she is trapped within this state of amnesia until her music teacher can undo the "lock."

I don't want to give away too much more detail, but what I really liked about the movie was Burke's interrogations of Robin, and the movie progresses from her retelling of what she is beginning to remember to actual flashbacks. You can almost literally see the characters' minds' gears shift as each new piece of information is uncovered. The movie is simple in that there are very few locations, and I could easily imagine it being adapted as a stage play. The movie is complex in the way it explores identity, brainwashing, operant conditioning and the concept of microbes being created to erase memories, something recently explored in broader detail in "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind." But the situation is made to feel so real in this movie, that you immediately accept the technology and its implications. And the end, no matter what conclusions you may try to draw during the course of the movie, will surprise you.

Catherine O'Connor, who played Robin, was present at the screening and answered questions after the movie. It was interesting to note that most of the cast had mainly experience in Chicago theater. Also, she mentioned that the director often gave them the dialogue the night before shooting, never getting the entire script, and therefore not knowing how the movie would unfold. It was shot out of sequence over a long timeframe, and she admitted that she didn't know how the movie ended until she saw the first rough cut screening. The improvisation probably added to the realism, and I think that Kelley Hazen was particularly effective in infusing some entertaining wit into what would have been some very dry monologues, and since she had to do a lot of expository dialogue, this was a tall order and she rose to the occasion.

I wonder if the ones who have awarded more than 1 point to this thing, have really seen it. It was really one of the worst films I ever saw. The acting couldn't be poorer, the story is ridiculous. I laughed so often due to the horrible acting performances although there was not a single line that was intended to be funny. I especially loved the evil guy (who of course speaks with a fake eastern European accent). His best line: "I like the darkness."

The leading actress was present at the screening, and I felt a little sorry for her because everyone laughed, but I didn't feel too much with her because she deserved the embarrassment so much.

0/10 points, I refuse to acknowledge this thing as a movie.