Lena Dunham’s warm, lively adaptation of Karen Cushman’s 1994 historical novel “Catherine Called Birdy,” opens with a needle drop that references another classic teen movie. Misty Miller’s cover of the '90s Supergrass tune “Alright” plays as a young Lady Catherine (called Birdy) (Bella Ramsey), finds herself in the midst of a mud fight during a raucous cottage raising in her medieval English village.
The song choice (one of a few great ‘90s covers that Miller performs throughout the film), is a high-five to Amy Heckerling’s 1995 film “Clueless,” and it inextricably links the two films together. One is an adaptation of a novel written in the '90s, set in medieval times, the other is based on a Regency-era Jane Austen novel, set in the ‘90s, but both films are about a virgin who can’t drive. The reference is a lovely way of reminding us, as “Catherine Called Birdy” frequently does, that the issues plaguing girlhood are often the same, no matter the era.
Dunham has called adapting the book a longtime passion project, and the care and love she has for the story and the characters — in both her writing and direction — is palpable. Like “Clueless,” it is a film that feels effortless, energetic and dynamic; it is densely wordy, witty and wise, and it demands to be rewatched as many times as possible.
