Factual error: The movie is set in Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania) in 1825. Throughout the movie, in scenes where Clare talks to the aboriginal tracker, Billy, subtitles state that they are speaking in Palawa Kani. Palawa kani was developed in the 1990s by the language program of the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre, more than 165 years after the movie.
The Nightingale (2018)
Directed by: Jennifer Kent
Starring: Aisling Franciosi, Baykali Ganambarr, Maya Christie
Factual error: The movie is set in Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania) in 1825. In the final scenes, aboriginal tracker Billy is shot and Clare watches the sun rise across the water. Tasmania is a heart-shaped island 350 km across and down, and Launceston, their destination, is in at the top, slightly east of centre, on the banks of the Tamar River 65 km from the coast. The only place she could do that would be the East Coast, roughly 120 km from Launceston, or about half the journey she made to get there.
Billy: We don't fix them. We kill them.
Clare: Get me to the soldiers that came by this morning.
Billy: What are you doing?
Clare: I just wanted him to stop is all.
Billy: If that one's your husband, you need another husband.
Clare: How do we get to him?
Billy: I don't want no trouble.
Clare: Please help me. You know what it's like to have white fella take everything you have, don't ya? They stole something from me, and I need to get it back.
