Meet Helen (Claire Foy). A native of England, her days can be spent alternating between a pair of binoculars and the classroom; dividing her time as she observes hawks in flight before reporting her sightings back to her father, Alisdair (Brendan Gleeson), eventually venturing to the halls of Jesus College where her day job encompasses lectures, research and all things academia. All seems perfectly routine; that is, until a night out with best friend Christina (Denise Gough) immediately takes a tragic detour when a phone call from her mother (Lindsay Duncan) informs a visibly shaken Helen of Alisdair’s sudden, unexpected passing.
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We all process grief differently; these personal journeys can take many forms, and in Helen’s case, her next immediate plan of action is to purchase a Goshawk, one she soon names Mabel. Acting on her own history working closely with hawks, and with assistance from a colleague as she attempts to navigate through the beginning stages of this new relationship, the stages of grief may very well sit alongside her time with Mabel, as frequent, visual reminders of treasured days with her father await her more often than even she might have expected.
This is the setup for “H Is for Hawk,” director Philippa Lowthorpe‘s adaptation of the eponymous biography by the real Helen (last name Macdonald). With the opening scenes quick to establish Helen’s groundwork, the majority of what follows shuttles between the growing pains of rearing a hawk, the joy as the relationship develops, the attempts by those surrounding Helen to understand such a choice and the wish by all that she begin the process of readjustment, as a potential new job and lecture opportunity await amidst funeral proceedings and Christina’s repeated knocks on Helen’s door as her devoted friend wants nothing more than to shake the grief-stricken academic out of the melancholy now distracted by a hawk. Some regard it as a hobby, but Helen’s ready to dismiss any such observation, or that Mabel’s existence serves as a distraction that her mother believes she needs.
Capturing the halls of an English college and the surrounding woods, a perpetually cloudy atmosphere permeates nearly every scene; it’s enough to render Helen’s emotions palpable, and the appearance of Alisdair as she gazes into a library or the driver’s seat of the car she inherited from the man effectively shows the attachment both once shared. Somehow, what could be considered gloomy from the outset never feels so, with Foy’s command of every scene matching the emotion, as the pain layered on her face keeps this film from entering an unwatchable realm. Seeing Helen bond with Mabel, taking the hawk to numerous public events as Mabel sits perched upon her gloved hand, playfully interacting with the bird at home while ignoring those coming to her door, simply wanting to help; such a portrayal of grief may sound heavy-handed, but Foy’s presence mixes with the pace in a manner unlike many of its contemporaries. It could be easy to walk away from any moment inhabiting “H Is for Hawk” with nothing less than a feeling of overwhelming sadness, yet such an emotion, fortunately, never fully appears.
By focusing on two main characters, one human, one not, the film successfully moves past its establishing devastation, never feeling as if the film might be tending to dwell, while allowing plenty to remind us of who Alisdair once was, as Helen does the same. A film about loss? Hawks? Finding ways to cope with any significant tragedy is hardly new, but in the hands of Foy and Lowthrope, it is. [A]
