You can't fool a hawk. So for her new film, Claire Foy had to learn their ways

“H Is for Hawk” is for the birds. And specified majestic creatures they are, holding their ain other the magnificent Claire Foy (“All of Us Strangers”).

The film, directed by Philippa Lowthorpe and based connected Helen Macdonald’s memoir, centers connected Foy’s quality Helen, devastated by the abrupt nonaccomplishment of her begetter (played by Brendan Gleeson). In her grief, she turns to a puerility interest, falconry, and buys a goshawk. The wilder the bird, the tamer the name; Helen calls her Mabel.

Producer Dede Gardner and Lowthorpe had worked with Foy earlier (in “Women Talking” and “The Crown,” respectively) and agreed she’d beryllium cleanable arsenic Helen. But Mabel was different communicative entirely.

Lowthorpe tapped Lloyd and Rose Buck, joined vertebrate specialists who had worked for decades connected earthy past documentaries with the likes of David Attenborough. Since they were conveniently located not acold from her location successful Bristol, England, the 3 got unneurotic to fig retired however to marque the movie work.

Five birds were needed to play the quality of Mabel astatine antithetic points; the main 2 would person to beryllium raised and trained by the mates agelong earlier filming began. Sisters Mabel 1 and Mabel 2 had the bulk of the work. “They’re from the aforesaid clutch, but they’re similar chalk and food successful character,” says Lloyd. “Mabel 2 is overmuch shier and has much wildness successful her,” truthful she was utilized successful the tense vertebrate scenes aboriginal on. Mabel 1 was utilized to alert to and from Foy’s glove, and for overmuch of the enactment depicting Helen cohabiting with Mabel successful her house.

Jess, connected indebtedness from a person successful Scotland with a falconry center, was accustomed to people, truthful she was featured successful Mabel’s calmest moments. Juha, the lone antheral and overmuch smaller than the females, was seen lone successful precocious aerial shots. And Lottie starred successful the hunting scenes, traveling up to 45 miles an hr done the woods to seizure her prey.

Before filming was acceptable to begin, Foy visited the Bucks for 2 weeks of intensive falconry training. “That was a important infinitesimal for the full project, due to the fact that unless they’ve taken to Claire and she’s taken to them, I don’t deliberation it could ever person worked,” Lloyd says. “But due to the fact that she was truthful amazing, it works. She’s interested, clever, intelligent, but supra each she’s conscionable a beauteous person, and that’s what they see. You can’t fool them, they’re not silly; they tin spot if someone’s pretending to similar them but they don’t really.”

Foy was delighted to enactment with the birds and with the Bucks. “They’re incredibly benignant people,” she says. “They’re truthful tender and truthful beauteous with their birds, and truthful they are with different quality beings arsenic well. But besides they conscionable threw maine in. At the extremity of the archetypal time I was with Lottie hunting, letting her merchandise disconnected my arm. Learning with the birds was the past portion of the puzzle of Helen and the acquisition I was going to have, truthful it became a truly profound experience.”

“Claire enactment her bosom and psyche into that training,” Lowthorpe says. “She has large carnal instincts arsenic good arsenic affectional instincts.”

Everything connected acceptable revolved astir the hawks’ well-being. Filming took spot betwixt October and January, to debar molting season. Everyone successful the unit wore drab, acheronian colors, due to the fact that that’s what the birds were utilized to. Microphones were hidden due to the fact that the birds didn’t similar booms, and astir of the unit hid upstairs; adjacent Lowthorpe hid down a portion of furnishings with her monitor. Lloyd oregon Rose would either hood oregon region the scene’s Mabel, and springiness the all-clear, earlier the unit could reappear to enactment betwixt takes.

“I told Charlotte Bruus Christensen, our fantastic DP, we should conscionable movie everything,” Lowthorpe recalls. “If you pin it you mightiness termination the spirit of information oregon surprise. Claire was truthful successful tune successful those scenes, she was capable to respond successful an improvisational way, and she would beryllium successful her quality astatine each times during those long, agelong takes. Like I was capturing the hawks, I was capturing Claire, allowing her to determination wherever she wanted.”

“It wasn’t similar having different histrion who had different docket oregon actions oregon a position that they wanted to get crossed successful the scene,” Foy says. “I was on for the thrust with these animals.”

When Helen takes Mabel for her archetypal locomotion astir the house, she talks mildly to her. “This is my kitchen,” she says. Mabel flaps her wings wildly. “It’s not that bad.” The vertebrate poops. “Oh, acknowledgment precise much.”

Mabel becomes some salvation and addiction to Helen. “To consciousness that alive, chasing a goshawk arsenic it’s hunting, you’re portion of this bonzer experience, which feels spiritual and meaningful,” Foy explains. “I bash deliberation that we effort to debar the ugliness of grief astatine each costs, similar that’s thing you’re expected to bash unsocial successful a cupboard that isn’t witnessed. We conscionable are truthful acrophobic of that look of it. The travel with Mabel is the astir vivid look of that experience.”

Back location successful London, Foy says she intends to sojourn the Mabels. “Whenever you thrust connected the motorway successful the U.K., you’ve birds of prey everywhere, and present I tin place them,” she says. “I spot them everyplace I go. There’s an owl retired the backmost of my house. I consciousness similar I’m perpetually looking upwards now.”