The Ornithologist

2016, 117, Digital
Portugal / France / Brazil

Director: João Pedro Rodrigues

As he treks through the north of Portugal in search of rare birds, Fernando is swept away by the river rapids. Rescued by a couple of Chinese pilgrims, he tries to find his way back home through the eerie, dark forests, where uncanny encounters put him to the test. He soon becomes a different man, inspired, perhaps even enlightened.
 
“You can depend on a João Pedro Rodrigues movie to give you a real eyeful. The Portuguese filmmaker’s erotic phantasmagorias offer no shortage of what-the-fuck tableaux, with an emphasis on bodies and the sweet havoc they wreak… calls to mind the best of Luis Buñuel and Apichatpong Weerasethakul.”–Film Comment