Catherine Called Birdy is an absolute delight
Don't let Lena Dunham put you off.
Kia ora and welcome back to Rec Room, The Spinoff’s pop culture and entertainment newsletter, brought to you by Panasonic. This week I caught up on the incredibly tense psychological thriller The Patient, belatedly started the Sharon Horgan mystery comedy Bad Sisters (as good as everyone says) and subscribed to even more podcasts, including the excellent new New York Times tech show Hard Fork. Here’s what else I’ve been enjoying, along with a guest rec from my colleague Chris Schulz.
- Catherine McGregor
Catherine Called Birdy is an absolute delight
Andrew Scott and Bella Ramsey in Catherine Called Birdy (Amazon Prime Video)
What’s the story?
The place: Lincoln, England. The date: 1290. Fourteen-year-old Lady Catherine, Birdy to her friends, enjoys a life of carelessness and freedom until her family’s dire financial situation (and the arrival of Birdy’s periods) propels her unwillingly towards marriage. Based on the beloved YA novel by Karen Cushman, Catherine Called Birdy (the comma seems to have fallen by the wayside during the transition from book to film) is a comic coming-of-age story told through the pages of Birdy’s diary.
It’s also written and directed by Lena Dunham, she of Girls and a number of questionable tweets. If that puts you off (I admit, it did for me) don’t worry: Dunham does an exceptional job of bringing Cushman’s characters vibrantly to life.
What’s good
Not so long ago (OK, last week) I wrote that I was getting sick of period-set productions that were wildly, proudly anachronistic. And then along came Catherine Called Birdy and suddenly I’m a fan.
Turns out, dropping modern language, attitudes and music into a historical setting is great – when it’s done with such gleeful abandon as this. The big difference, of course, is that Catherine Called Birdy is played for laughs; it draws its inspiration not from classic novels, but from anarchic, loosely “historic” comedies like Blackadder, Norsemen and the kids’ series Horrible Histories.
That means lots of good jokes about the time period – Birdy can think of nothing more fun than attending the local hanging, and can’t spin yarn however hard she tries. It also makes it unafraid to get down in the dirt – quite literally in the case of the mud fight that opens the movie (“And to think I just bathed you a fortnight ago,” sighs Birdy’s nursemaid. “What a waste!”) – with plenty of gross-out sight gags and era-appropriate farting.
Everyone in the movie seems to be having the time of their lives. Andrew Scott (Fleabag’s Hot Priest) is his usual louche self, playing Birdy’s father as a self-destructive charmer whose money troubles are forcing his daughter into marriage. Paul Kaye is marvellously repulsive as Birdy’s suitor Shaggy Beard, and Sophie Okonedo is unexpectedly affecting as a pushy widow with hidden depths. A special shout out to David Bradley (Game of Thrones’ Walder Frey), who does “nasty old man” like few other actors working today.
Joe Alwyn and Bella Ramsey in Catherine Called Birdy (Amazon Prime Video)
Still no one in the cast comes close to Bella Ramsey as the lovable Birdy. Her pint-sized Lyanna Mormont was an instant fan favourite the moment she arrived on Game of Thrones – a picture of her scowling face was my own Slack avatar for over a year – and she brings that same fierceness to Birdy, another headstrong girl struggling against the strictures of medieval life. Ramsey is an extraordinarily physical performer, whether throwing herself around the room while describing how babies are made (she’s convinced it involves a poker in the nostrils) or play-fighting with her friends – head down, hunched over, looking more like one of the goats her friend Perkin tends than a young lady of the manor. Ramsey carries the movie, and is an exuberant delight from start to finish.
What’s not so good
Billie Piper is perfectly fine as Birdy’s angelic mother Lady Aislinn. But she’s either heavily pregnant, having babies, or caring for babies almost the entire time. In a movie full of big, eccentric characters, Piper shrinks into the background.
The verdict
A charming comedy about family, friendship and a teenage girl determined to go her own way. Love Lena Dunham or hate her, there’s no denying Catherine Called Birdy is a triumph. (Amazon Prime Video)
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Drama rec: The Patient
Steve Carrell and Domhnall Gleeson in The Patient (Disney+)
I started The Patient late in its run – the final episode arrives next week – but quickly became hooked on this show about a therapist (Steve Carrell) abducted by a serial killer (Domhnall Gleeson) for a very intense series of in-home therapy sessions. I’ve never been much interested in shows about therapy, and expected The Patient would be a grind: two men talking about feelings and childhood trauma ad nauseam, with the only difference being that one’s a sociopath.
The Patient does have lots of therapy scenes, it’s true, but it’s also a taut thriller with plenty of twists – and more comic moments than you might expect. Created by Joel Fields and Joe Weisberg, the duo behind The Americans, The Patient features great performances from both Carrell as the terrified Alan and Gleeson as his captor Sam, a dedicated foodie and Kenny Chesney fan with a worryingly large collection of other people’s watches and wallets. (Disney+)
Comedy/drama rec: Atlanta
It's had no recognition, very little press, and no one in my circle of friends seems to be watching it anymore. Perhaps that's because Atlanta's third season was a little wayward, or maybe there's been just a few months between the end of season three and the beginning of season four. Perhaps everyone's just too damned busy with Rings and Thrones right now.
Whatever it is, I urge you to jump back in immediately because Atlanta is going out in the best kind of style. Donald Glover's hip-hop centred show has entered its Twilight zone with a final season that floats somewhere between the already warped American reality and a twisted David Lynchian nightmare. It can and does go anywhere it wants to, from apocalyptic Los Angeles lootings to a family kidnapping, from a bonkers treasure hunt to the set of a messed up children's TV show. Just five episodes are left before Atlanta wraps up for good. I'm predicting once it's over we'll be discussing it among the greats. (Neon)
- Chris Schulz
Factual rec: Secrets of the London Underground
I lived in London for a decade during the early 2000s, and all these years later I still miss the endless amount of smart factual programming pumped out by the BBC, Channel 4 and the rest. It’s annoyingly difficult to see most of that content here in New Zealand, but Secrets of the London Underground is a rare exception which, for me at least, scratches that itch. The co-hosts are both experts and genuine enthusiasts, they visit places on the vast underground network that members of the public never get to see, and everyone involved in the programme seems to have a deep and abiding love for the Underground – both as it is today and during its 160-year history. If you like public transport and history, or if you’ve spent any time in London, you’ll probably also really like Secrets of the London Underground (TVNZ+)
Random links
I’ve been devouring reviews of last week’s incredible Andor episode. This from The Ringer is one of the best.
Headlines you don’t read every day: ‘Mel Gibson to testify against Harvey Weinstein in LA trial’. Or, as comedian Jess Dweck put it on Twitter: ‘Aryan vs Predator’.
Did the smash hit podcast The Teacher’s Pet help or hinder the quest to bring Chris Dawson to justice?
Something strange is happening on Trade Me: concert tickets are going cheap.
Binged the bonkers horror series The Watcher already? Read the enthralling article that inspired it.
Does Great Kiwi Bake Off judge Peter Gordon have the best voice on New Zealand TV?
A Supreme Court case over Andy Warhol’s portrait of Prince could force artists to change the way they make art.
How three cursed shows – FBOY Island, The Block and Rich Listers – tell a story of New Zealand reality TV’s decline.
And finally: great disgusting moments in cinema history.
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