And Then Come the Nightjars
A farmer and vet face off on a Devon farm in Bea Roberts’ skilful adaptation of her own play.
Nigel Hastings and David Fielder
This unexpectedly rewarding film is something of a personal triumph for its director Paul Robinson, but nevertheless one that is undoubtedly aided by the talents of its two leading actors. It needs to be admitted that the venture in question is one that sets off alarm bells since it finds the playwright Bea Roberts adapting her own 2015 stage work into a screenplay. Turning plays into films is always a hazardous proceeding but the risk is even stronger when, as here, the original theatre piece was a two-hander. The very nature of such pieces is usually inherently ill-suited to the more naturalistic medium of film, but in the case of And Then Come the Nightjars the new treatment is far more successful than one would have anticipated.
The original stage production won awards and it is striking that the very same forces are involved here. Robinson was the theatre director in 2015 and the two actors, David Fielder as Michael and Nigel Hastings as Jeffrey, are reprising their stage roles. One can readily surmise that the film grew out of a desire by all three to bring this work to a wider audience and it may have been further encouraged by the fact that there is indeed one aspect of the work which is better suited to the screen than to the theatre, that being the rural setting.
The first half of And Then Come the Nightjars takes place on a farm in South Devon. Indeed, that is where we meet the two central figures. Michael is a farmer, a widower who has lost his 58-year-old wife to cancer and who is being visited by Jeff, a local vet who is present when one of Michael's cows is calving. It is March 2001 and the date is significant because this is the time when a serious widespread outbreak of foot and mouth disease led to culling imposed by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. Jeff has found Michael’s animals to be healthy but the disease strikes sufficiently nearby to cause Jeff to have to return to carry out the prescribed national policy by putting down Michael’s beloved animals. Michael’s attempts to resist this but his inability to do so supply the drama central to this part of the film. However, it also establishes the bond between the two men as Michael bemoans the loss of his wife and Jeff confides in him regarding his own domestic problems (his marriage is disintegrating and he is drinking too much).
The film’s second half is centred less on any one event then on the close platonic relationship that develops between these two men as they grow older. Initially this part of the narrative is still set in 2001 with Jeff's wife leaving him and taking their daughter with her. But before long we jump ahead to 2009 when both parents are present for the daughter’s wedding and the party for it is also attended by Michael. By now Jeff has recovered from his alcoholism and has joined Michael in running the farm which has survived despite changes in the countryside, these being times that are far from easy for those making a living off the land. The last section of the work moves forward to 2013 to show Jeff being the supportive friend to the now ailing and decidedly elderly Michael. Early on nightjars have been mentioned and have been described as birds of death and an echo of that is incorporated in the film’s closing scene.
Few films are centred on a platonic male friendship but, since the drama of the foot and mouth epidemic is limited to the first half of it, this piece is just such a work. It's one that eschews any sense of sexual attraction between these men yet is expressive of a bond that can be shown physically through a holding of hands that is close to a physical embrace. That makes for pleasingly different subject matter and it could well be that And Then Come the Nightjars will appeal primarily to older audiences ready to identify with the theme of aging when that emerges. For that reason, I do regret the film’s early emphasis on strong language. This applies less later on and furthermore may not be out of character, but to use so much of it in the opening scenes is exactly what is likely to put off many of the viewers who would be likely to appreciate this piece the most.
I was also less than taken by the music score of Simon Slater verging as it does on the banal, but the most serious weakness is inevitably linked with the work’s stage origin. Interestingly Bea Roberts in rewriting her play has opted to keep it close to being a two-hander while at the same time deviating from that. There are now subsidiary figures, especially in the wedding party scene, who effectively fill out the picture despite being seen although virtually unheard. There is success too in the way that Hastings and Fielder now give performances convincingly gauged for the screen including the subtle signs of aging that Hastings ultimately brings to the younger Jeff. Nevertheless, I myself am always sensitive to the fact that on-screen dialogue taken from a play often retains a tone that smacks of theatre and there were certainly times when I felt that here. However, these days many viewers favour cinema visits to see filmed live stage performances so this may be something that many will take in their stride.
In any case I come back to my initial proclamation that this film, Paul Robinson's first feature, is a triumph for him. His career hitherto has been in theatre but here he shows a natural visual flair. One dream sequence feels poorly judged, but for the most part this is fine filmmaking in which he is assisted by the wide screen colour photography of John Craine and by the expert editing of Claire Pringle. The origin of And Then Come the Nightjars may not be entirely hidden here but all the same this is a film that deserves to be seen.
MANSEL STIMPSON
Cast: David Fielder, Nigel Hastings, Madeleine Marshall, Nigel Gillingham, Geraldine Thompson, Katie Jones, Jessica Wooller, Robert Squire, James Reader, Mawgan Scott, Jerome Hitchens, Robert Holmes.
Dir Paul Robinson, Pro Amy Gardner and Nigel Hastings, Screenplay Bea Roberts, from her play of the same name, Ph John Craine, Pro Des Fern Leigh Albert, Ed Claire Pringle, Music Simon Slater, Costumes Lia Jo Stephenson.
Finite Films-Munro Film Services Ltd.
81 mins. UK. 2023. UK Rel: 1 September 2023. Cert. 15.
