Andrea Arnold’s Bird and Jesse Eisenberg’s A Real Pain both share the notion that while family may be difficult, escaping them is even harder.
Behind the Lens: Exploring Directors, Past Works, and Themes at Cornwall Film Festival
Themes of belonging, self-discovery and difficult familial relationships are frequently present in the past works of both directors Andrea Arnold and Jesse Eisenberg. Through covering previous coming-of-age dramas, road movies, and their latest films of these genres, we are constantly faced with the reality that escaping your past may not be as simple as changing your scenery.
Arnold is no newcomer to coming-of-age dramas, with work such as Fish Tank (2010) and American Honey (2016) she has often focussed on the ‘transition from childhood to adulthood, girlhood to womanhood’ (The Guardian). Her latest feature Bird explores a similar experience, following a stubborn pre-teen struggling to grapple with her turbulent, sobering homelife.
Bird is set in a dilapidated apartment project in Gravesend, Kent, where lonely 12-year-old Bailey (Nykiya Adams) is surrounded by her dysfunctional family. Her reckless dad Bug, (Barry Keoghan) is fixated on impulsive plans to marry his girlfriend of three months, while Bailey’s rebellious brother Hunter is busy being a vigilante and instigating gang violence. It’s safe to say Bailey’s upbringing has been somewhat stormy. Her destiny for doom finds a glimpse of hope however when she meets the eponymous character Bird, a friendly figure who is on the search to track down his parents after being separated from them as a child.
This unflinching social realist drama is what Arnold is notorious for. After having received such high acclaim for Fish Tank, a gritty Essex teenage drama, her return to a small-city British council estate has been highly anticipated. Bird’s symbolism of flying free from the shackles of one's unstable environment is a theme that keeps cropping up in Arnold’s work. In Fish Tank, a girl is desperate to avoid following her mother’s unreliable footsteps and seeks a father figure. In American Honey, we are on the road with a girl who has run away from home to escape her abusive father. We see these female protagonists in ‘environments where their freedom and privacy are often limited’ (Slant), yearning for a different life, separate from what and who they've always known. Bailey is no exception.
Speaking of road trip movies, Eisenberg’s latest feature A Real Pain is just as much about self-discovery and navigating complex relationships, although from a mid-adult perspective. Sorry all, but it doesn’t look like these issues are reserved solely for adolescents.
A Real Pain follows the story of two mismatched cousins as they embark on a road trip through Poland, to honour their Grandmother and learn more about her history. Through doing so, they are forced to reckon with their conflicting personalities and question if they’re better off without one another. This ‘finely tuned, melancholic and at times startlingly funny exploration of loss and belonging’ (New York Times) stars Eisenberg alongside Kieran Culkin and they deliver startling performances of two restless, searching men.
Unlike Arnold, Eisenberg is still fairly new to the game, with his directorial debut When You Finish Saving The World (2022) being his first stab at a coming-of-age drama. This movie also deals with the emotional complexities of a contentious relationship but between a teenage son and his mother. Eisenberg’s ‘cuttingly poignant and cyanide-sweet’ first film is certainly less chaotic and more gentle of an approach to the genre than Arnold’s contributions, but they both battle the constraints of family bonds in their own style.
Whether we’re on a heartfelt road trip through Poland or aimlessly stuck in a derelict town of South East England, A Real Pain and Bird both reveal the vastness of navigating relationships through different periods of our lives. They sensitively tackle the human contradiction of desiring a deep connection with your family, whilst simultaneously wanting nothing to do with them.
Don't miss these screenings at Cornwall Film Festival. Grab your tickets below!
A Real Pain screening at The Poly on Saturday 16th November @ 8:00 PM.
Bird screening at The Poly on Friday 22nd November @ 7:15 PM.
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