The Hawk Is Dying (2006)

Director:

Julian Goldberger

Writers:

Harry Crews (novel)
Julian Goldberger (writer)

Release Date:

9 July 2008 (France)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A Gainesville Florida auto upholsterer (Giamatti) attempts to subvert his mundane life by training a wild, red-tailed hawk. |

Plot Keywords:

Mentally Handicapped | Falconry | Death Of Nephew | Drowning | Hawk

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Paul Giamatti	...	George Gattling
Michelle Williams	...	Betty
Michael Pitt	...	Fred
Rusty Schwimmer	...	Precious
Robert Wisdom	...	Billy Bob
Ann Wedgeworth	...	Ma Gattling
Mark Campbell	...	Football Player
Ayana Rhoden	...	Girlfriend
Taylor Simpson	...	Gray Bony Lady
John Hostetter	...	Nebbish Professor
Steve DuMouchel	...	Marvin Hill
Katie Dixon	...	Young Female Undergrad
Veryl Jones	...	Ambulance Driver
Karl Anthony	...	Dr. Leep
Marc Macaulay	...	Alonzo

Runtime:

USA:112 min (Sundance Film Festival)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Netherlands:6 | Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Florida, USA

Company:

Antidote Films (I)

Trivia:

The production schedule only allowed for 24 days of shooting.

Quotes:

Fred: You never have.

Movie Connections:

References "Aquaman" (1968)

not for all audiences but intriguing nonetheless

At what point, in a person's mind, does obsession finally turn to madness? That seems to be the question raised by "The Hawk is Dying," a grimly depressing yet strangely compelling film about a man possibly being pushed towards insanity by the bizarre, sudden death of the mentally retarded nephew he helped to raise.

The always intriguing Paul Giamatti plays George Gattling, a single man who lives with his sister and her teenage son near Gainesville, Florida. Gattling is determined to capture a wild hawk and train it to do his bidding, despite the fact that all his earlier efforts in that direction have resulted in tragic failures. After his nephew somehow drowns in his own waterbed when he is with a local prostitute (whom Gattling set him up with), Gattling begins to slip further and further into apparent madness, cutting himself off from family members and friends and becoming ever more obsessed with taming the hawk he has captured.

This is no easy film for the casual moviegoer to sit through. It is harsh, grim and depressing, and we're not always sure what the overall purpose of the film is at any given moment. Still, paradoxically, it is this very air of enigma, coupled with Giamatti'a bravura, tour-de-force performance, that most gives one reason to check the movie out. Giamatti is totally riveting as a man driven by an almost manic need to establish control over another living creature, even if that means relinquishing the hold on his own sanity a bit to do so. He receives superb support from Rusty Schwimmer as his good-hearted but dimwitted sister, and Michelle Williams as the prostitute strangely embroiled in the boy's mysterious death. And writer/director Julian Goldberger, basing his work on the novel by Harry Crews, makes the most of the rural, exotic setting to help create an otherworldly mood for his bizarre little tale.

"The Hawk is Dying" is not for every taste or audience demographic, but for those searching for something a little different, out-of-the-mainstream and challenging, this one just might fit the bill.