by Finnlay Dall
Worth: $16.00
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
Terry Masear
Intro:
Some might find Aitken’s hyperfocus on Terry herself rather than the birds to be a diversion, but it’s clear that the film is more about the value of volunteering to help others who can’t – whether that’s friend or fowl.
Terry Masear is one of the many wildlife carers living in the heart of Los Angeles, but what sets her apart is her species of choice: the spritely hummingbird. Hosting a makeshift sanctuary in her backyard and a rehabilitation centre in her kitchen, Terry creates a respite for nature’s most under-sung and talented creatures.
Australian filmmaker Sally Aitken (Playing with Sharks: The Valerie Taylor Story) films Terry over the course of several days as her “finders” – members of the general public – bring in wounded or abandoned hummingbirds from their backyards or the side of the road for her to nurse back to health.
Terry’s accounts of her history as a carer and daily activities caring for her birds are intercut with dreamlike closeups of hummingbirds in slow motion. As they spin and batter the air with vibrating wings, these curious little creatures conjure images of faeries or wisps from a more fantastical world.
While the film for the most part acts as an hour and a half interview with Terry, her hummingbirds are lovingly given the nature documentary treatment. We follow the lives of a handful of patients and their quirky personalities. There’s Jimmy, the “maniac and relentless flier” who’s aching to see the world; the romantic Mikhail meanwhile contends with a one-sided love affair as his mate Alexa showers him with indifference. Every bird has a name and an endearing personality, and thanks to Terry’s incredible insight into the Hummingbird ecosystem, the film refuses to fall into the trap of anthropomorphising them. The film’s point is that these birds are special precisely because their lives are different from ours.
Every Little Thing’s hokey opening – with stock ukulele music complementing Terry’s laughably bad puns – may turn off viewers. However, anyone who has ever grown up around wildlife or domestic carers will tell you that this fits someone like Terry perfectly. Animal foster carers like her, have to stay positive in the face of absolute tragedy on a daily basis. “If I don’t do everything right, they die.”
She often finds herself lying to finders about the wellbeing of their birds. Talking of Cactus, named after the spines lodged in their back, Terry suggests their survival rate to be as low as ten percent, despite telling the finder otherwise. “We have our secret,” she says, “because nobody wants to hear the truth when it’s bad news.”
But Terry also has to contend with the dishonesty of others. Sugar Soap’s burnt skin and dry feathers were supposed to be caused by an accident, but Terry’s expert opinion is that the damage is most likely purposeful. Disgusting acts like this – in which animals are left with no chance of survival – are commonplace in Terry’s line of work. “[It’s] a mirror of their attitude towards all of nature.”
Being a survivor of abuse herself, Terry is all too familiar with the cruelty of humanity. Yet, it’s her willingness to push forward and protect creatures unable to do it themselves that gives the audience hope for the future. And as we watch her, relieved to see the remaining birds flutter off into the wider world once more, we can’t help but feel that all her turmoil was worth it in the end.
Some might find Aitken’s hyperfocus on Terry herself rather than the birds to be a diversion, but it’s clear that the film is more about the value of volunteering to help others who can’t – whether that’s friend or fowl. Terry shows us a letter from a former finder thanking her for all her hard work, and you can’t help but wonder if Aitken used it as inspiration to help form the documentary: “Volunteers are unpaid not because they’re worthless, but because they are priceless.”
