Pelican Blood (2010)

Pelican Blood: Directed by Karl Golden. With Harry Treadaway, Emma Booth, Ali Craig, Arthur Darvill. A love story set in the world of obsessive birdwatchers.

“Pelican Blood is a small budget indie film that most certainly will not be to everyoneu0026#39;s taste. It will require an exceedingly open mind to get involved with (rather than repelled by) the story, which concerns two teenagers that met on a suicide website – probably something like u0026#39;slashmywrists.com.u0026#39; Its sexually charged, unpredictable plot, and unravelling, testosterone-fuelled emotion, will give you a drug induced high as it rips your heart to shreds and offers you a few pieces for keepsakes.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThis film is fast and funky and deadly serious, and massively flawed, yet just about succeeds in its difficult central premise. There is none of the arty at-a-distance feel of Sofia Coppolau0026#39;s The Virgin Suicides. Thereu0026#39;s no chance of treating it as an aesthetic exercise, intangible and distanced from any sense of close reality. Pelican Bloodu0026#39;s protagonists are full-blooded, off-centre youngsters that are in a compulsive love affair, both with each other and the idea of their own eventual extinction. If you have ever been caught in a relationship that you know is u0026#39;wrongu0026#39; for you both but equally inescapable, you will have an idea of the obsessive love tantalisingly portrayed. If you were in their place, you can imagine feeling the same. A punchy soundtrack and attractive, highly competent young actors help to make Pelican Blood unsettling yet compulsive viewing.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eNikko survived a recent suicide attempt and narrowly avoided being sectioned. u0026quot;I once went out with a girl and we were both going to kill ourselves. Turns out one of us wasnu0026#39;t serious,u0026quot; he declares at the beginning of the movie. He used to self-harm, but gave it up by promising himself suicide – which u0026#39;sounds better, more real.u0026#39; He doesnu0026#39;t take medication as it u0026#39;turns him into a zombie.u0026#39; He canu0026#39;t bear the thought of going back in the loony bin – barely repressed tears convince us of his sincerity. Nikkou0026#39;s not u0026#39;nutsu0026#39; – he just doesnu0026#39;t want to live. Nothing against life – just that, u0026quot;If life doesnu0026#39;t work out for you then going through the motions is the biggest tragedy.u0026quot; He is a geek. His only outlet is birdwatching. Something he also does very seriously. Each sighting noted down with meticulous detail. When he gets to 500, heu0026#39;s promised himself the big treat. And heu0026#39;s at 498.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eStevie is a girl that any red-blooded man could fall in love with at 500 paces. It is only later that we discover that she is bi-polar and also suicidally fixated. (Which maybe helps explain why sheu0026#39;s attracted to a no-hoper like Nikko.) Stevieu0026#39;s an extreme animal rights activist. Throwing protest paint-bombs from high buildings and with no safety rail gets her high. Nikkou0026#39;s pals call her u0026#39;the bipolar whack-job.u0026#39; (She calls his ornithology mates something even less repeatable.) His idea of a date is (quite unsurprisingly) going to a bird sanctuary. She almost has to beg him for a kiss (but he does eventually put his hand down her pants as she holds the binoculars). Stevie really couldnu0026#39;t care less about spotting birds – but she will happily go ballistic to thrash someone they catch stealing eggs. When Nikko and Stevie have sex, they enjoy u0026#39;suicide gamesu0026#39; for afters. Sharp blades or helium. Theyu0026#39;re in love and the chemistry is electric.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003ePelican Blood is a fast and queasy affair bolstered by a good soundtrack and predictable (if none the less effective) montage and other standard teenflick formulae. Their love affair escalates from deep romance dance-y music to sombre black rock; and descending half tones to ratchet up the sentimental bonding while macho talk from Nikkou0026#39;s mates keeps the cheesiness at bay. This is a constantly unsteady balancing act and veers dangerously into becoming clichéd. I also found I couldnu0026#39;t quite hit ecstatic heights at seeing honey buzzard (number 499), even when its devotee is leaping through fields in slo-mo and a poetic voice-over extols the wonders of this rare flying biped. Needless to say, accidents will happen and things do not go smoothly for ill-fated lovers. Itu0026#39;s not exactly Virginia Woolf and The Hours, but is the pain of illness any the less real if heu0026#39;s a buckle short of a straightjacket? The ending has a beautiful bitter-sweet twist and rescues the film from the seemingly inescapable nose-dive into a black hole. Too weird to be called a romcom, it will need some clever marketing to find packed cinemas.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIf you think this film isnu0026#39;t going to work out for you, it probably wonu0026#39;t and you should avoid it. But if you can handle sailing into unknown waters with a stellar young cast and a fearless director, go for it. And donu0026#39;t worry about the title – you can look that up afterwards.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eps an excellent soundtrack by the way. I hope they release it.”