(Czech: Nabarvené ptáče)
The Painted Bird is a film where I can’t quite say if it’s good or bad because it’s so gruesome and terribly depressing. The film had some surprising Hollywood names in the cast, like Stellan Skarsgård and Harvey Keitel, who went as far as learning the obscure Interslavic language that the film was spoken in. It was interesting to see them in a black and white art house film from Eastern Europe.
The Painted Bird is like a lovechild of The Pianist and Cannibal Holocaust. If you liked The Pianist but would have hoped to be more repulsed and numbed by senseless sexual, physical, and mental violence, then The Painted Bird is a great pick. The film’s cinematography is brilliant and how they built the milieus and characters was atmospheric. In terms of writing, the film follows a kind of anthological style. While it can be entertaining, I feel it’s a bit of a cop out compared to writing a story with some reoccurrence instead of a collection of separate but related stories.
All in all, I would give it a
3/5
It’s well made but the ultraviolence was so overwhelming that it numbs the viewer and it starts feeling like the filmmakers are just feasting on it.