Catherine Called Birdy on Amazon Prime: Getting Married? Nope, better not – culture

A provocative success series, rumbling performances, one or the other Shitstorm – Lena Dunham is a controversial figure. The filmmaker became known about ten years ago with the indie film “Tiny Furniture” and her ironic millennial navel-gazing series “Girls”. Her unconventional and explicit manner made her a defining voice of her generation; one hated and one loved them. But the New York director and screenwriter is definitely not someone you would expect to make a family-friendly costume drama. One like the one that is now starting on Amazon Prime.

Catherine Called Birdy is a coming-of-age comedy set in the 13th century. And yes, this feel-good film was actually directed by Lena Dunham – enchantingly loving, funny and modern. On closer inspection, the 36-year-old filmmaker rarely leaves her familiar territory. Dunham’s signature narration, her attitude – the rebelliousness, the edgy humor, the themes – are all still there. Except that you can now watch it with a clear conscience with twelve-year-olds.

This is particularly surprising because Dunham’s last work “Sharp Stick”, which was screened at the Sundance Film Festival this year, once again performed everything in terms of sexual provocation that you can imagine from Dunham. With “Catherine Called Birdy” she is now fulfilling a childhood wish: The film is an adaptation of the young adult novel of the same name by Karen Cushman, which she loves. In addition to writing and directing the screenplay, Dunham also produced.

Bella Ramsey has a face like a medieval Madonna and a very contemporary furor

The plot is as simple as it is entertaining, but tells a lot about the social role of women in the Middle Ages. The audience follows the charismatic fourteen-year-old titular heroine, it’s the year 1290, and Lady Catherine, known to everyone just – yes, exactly – Birdy, has just arrived at that delicate cusp of adulthood that her wet nurse calls “the lady in red”. Dunham stages this shock of the first menstruation with a lot of humor, empathy and medieval cloth. Now that Birdy is officially of marriageable age, the penniless father wants to arrange a viable marriage as soon as possible. That, in turn, is pretty much the last thing the daughter wants. Loud and rebellious, Birdy has her own, albeit naïve, notion of her right to independence. And so she comes up with many a prank to get rid of the applicants and to be able to continue romping about the muddy fields undisturbed.

Birdy is played with irrepressible energy by “Game of Thrones” star Bella Ramsey. The British actress has a face like a medieval Madonna and a furor that many of today’s young viewers will probably be able to identify with. Without her, the film would only have done half as well. But Dunham has also done an excellent job, she hasn’t staged so well since the beginning with “Girls”: “Catherine Called Birdy” is creative, with just the right balance between historically correct details and narrative freedom. The film is warm-hearted and audience-friendly. Still, it’s clearly and unmistakably a Dunham film. The topics and questions are decidedly feminist. The dialogues are refreshingly fast-paced. The view of this period of puberty and transition – which is decisive for all women, including those in the 21st century – is perceptive and peppered with small and large truths.

In short, one thinks that the main character is a revenant of her “Girls” role Hannah Horvath. But Dunham sticks to the template’s innocent, upbeat tone. She resists the temptation to dig deeper into the ugly layers of medieval society. Birdy is not Hannah. Not getting her hands dirty with social criticism, at least for once, is the best decision she could have made.

Catherine Called Birdy, USA 202s – Directed and written by Lena Dunham (based on the novel by Karen Cushman). Starring: Bella Ramsey, Andrew Scott, Joe Alwyn. Amazon Prime, 108 minutes. Streaming start: 7.10.2022.

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