According to Lena Dunham, if she had made Catherine Called Birdy a few years earlier, the tone of the movie may have been extremely different. Based on the 1994 novel by Karen Cushman, the medieval-era film follows the title character’s adolescent protagonist as she considers the possibility of being forced into marriage by her well-intentioned but financially strapped parents (Doctor Who’s Billie Piper and Fleabag’s Andrew Scott, respectively). Behind the scenes, Dunham was living out her own marital story. She started a fast-paced relationship with musician Luis Felber, and in September 2021, nearly a year before the film’s release at the Toronto International Film Festival, they were married.
Funny enough, I got engaged just two weeks after we finished filming, the writer/director now jokes to Yahoo Entertainment. And I’d worked on this film on how restrictive marriage is for a few years! However, Dunham attributes the easing of that formerly “oppressive” attitude to her quick-moving friendship with Felber, who acts as Catherine Called Birdy’s executive music producer.
She explains, “That incredibly passionate monologue that Andrew Scott gives to his wife when she’s giving birth.” “That definitely happened after I had met my spouse, and I thought, “Maybe marriage wouldn’t be all misery and suffering! Perhaps there would also be some truly beautiful things.”
From HBO’s Girls to her most recent Sundance success, Sharp Stick, Dunham has been examining love, sex, and the difficulties of committed relationships in all of her work. Her own real-life relationships have also received a lot of attention from the media, which has covered all of her partnerships and breakups. She has no intention of ceasing to include her personal life experiences into her paintings now that she is married.
“In my current writing, I continue to pose new concerns regarding monogamy and marriage. It is exploring the significance of these conventions and if they are still useful. In the case of this film, it was really interesting to go back in time and push some of the same questions I’ve always been asking in my work in a medieval setting and with an eye more towards speaking towards the younger audience. It forced me to think about my own concepts in entirely new ways, both as an artist and as a person.”
Ramsey, who recently turned 19, naturally has a lot of ideas about what marriage means to her generation as both a member of the movie’s target demographic and its star. “When Andrew and I recently spoke, he said that marriage used to be a commercial transaction and that it has just recently evolved into a loving relationship. It’s a piece of paper that, in a way, “legalises” a couple’s relationship.”
Ramsey continues, “But then I was talking to someone who just got married a few weeks ago. “She claimed that she genuinely experiences a sensation of being at ease and security that she hadn’t anticipated. I don’t currently feel really strongly about marriage. It’s really fascinating to me.”
While marriage has evolved much since Birdy’s time in the 13th century, arranged marriages are still prevalent in several regions of the world, including the United States. More gravely, there have even been instances where young women were coerced into marriage as part of forced unions. Dunham claims that she is strongly against forcing marriage on women but doesn’t have any particular issues with planned marriages as long as it is mutually agreeable.
She claims that some individuals believe an arranged marriage is the best method to meet people because it is culturally acceptable. “The movie, which is extremely live and let live in nature, seems to be arguing that the idea of forced anything is a problem. Do it however you want as long as it includes a measure of freedom.”
Catherine Called Birdy, like A Knight’s Tale and Marie Antoinette before it, adopts a distinctly contemporary style of historical realism by integrating modern slang and music into its mediaeval setting. Ramsey claims that it also affected how she performed. The actress laughs, “In the first audition tape there was a small paragraph about how if Birdy existed in 2021 she would have a weird, niche meme profile on social media with like five followers. She’s just a very inquisitive person, and I imagine she’d find current technology amazing.
Both Ramsey and Dunham believe that Birdy may never find a lasting relationship. The director remarks, “We’ve questioned if maybe Birdy is able to shrug off marriage and establish a life. “Could Birdy be the first elderly eccentric woman in her community to realise she may have her own successful farm and do whatever she pleases? Alternatively, it’s possible that Birdy will fall in love and decide she wants to get married on her own terms.”
In reference to her alter ego, Ramsey explains, “It’s a choice and she’s made that decision for herself. She feels that she has no control over her life, so I believe all she really wants is to have some freedom, choice, and control over it. In any case, she cites her favourite line from the movie to illustrate why Birdy is such a unique character. “”I am not a lady sir, and cannot mimic one,” was one of my favourite lines to use. I believe that sums up how she felt during the entire movie, and I was very moved by what she said.”
