Die Vögel

Another film to prove that Hitchcock really was one of the most gifted film makers ever. His films are more 'fresh' today than any of current Hollywood megabuster.

The screeching bird soundtrack in itself was chilling.

The absence of backgound music added a sense of calm before the storm which made the bird attack scenes all the more intense.

The film builds up slowly and that serves to build up the tension and edginess.

The most chilling scene was definitely when Melanie (Tippi Hedren) was waiting outside the school while the singing was going on in the school. At each loop of the song, a few more crows would perch on the climbing frame. The site of them was truly grotesque. This scene is a lesson to all the "subtle as a sledge hammer" so called 'thrillers' that are churned out today.

By the end of the film, there is no conclusion, no neat result. It is somewhat uncomfortable watching a film like this and not seeing a conclusion. How will it end? Why did the birds attack?

Why spoil the film with an explanation?

Melanie Daniels meets Mitch Brenner at a pet shop where he has come to buy some birds for his young sister. They have a conflict of words but he sparks her interest and she travels up to his small town to see him again. Daniels stays in the town for the weekend despite the tension between her and Brenner's mother. However this is not the only source of worry as the locals begin to notice that the birds are acting out of character and showing signs of aggression.

I came to this film because my mother mentioned she was scared of birds as a result of seeing this when she was young. So I went for it with highs hopes that were not disappointed on the whole. The basic plot is just that – basic. But it allows plenty of disturbing scenes of bird attack as well as a nice slow build. The effects have dated and it doesn't look as impressive now, but it still has an impact. More importantly the film has a rich side-plot about themes that carry over from Psycho about mother's and sons. Not quite as far out as that film, this still has plenty of meat for anyone looking to analyse it further.

Hedren is OK in the lead but I found her to be just giving the same performance as every `dangerous blonde' does in Hitchcock films. But she is the predator of the film and she does it pretty well. Taylor is a good stock B movie actor type but looking at him I couldn't help picturing Cary Grant doing the role and it took away from Taylor. Tandy looked old even then, but she does really well with a complex role of the mother. Pleshette is a little annoying but still ok

Most people see this as a horror film, but it is much more than that. The ending is quite low key but it worked well with the overall feeling of menace in the birds, but it's worth remembering that this is not the ending Hitchcock wanted. His first choice, the Golden Gate bridge covered in birds, couldn't be done due to a tight budget.

Overall this is a great bit of Hitchcock that works on several levels. The horror will have you sweating when walking through groups of pigeons in city centres and the subtext will keep you in the pub for several hours.

There is a kind of theory according to which a horror or thriller film would lose all its frightening effect if it did not have a musical support as a backdrop, and its greater or lesser intensity regulates the viewer's tension levels. And this is true, at least in most of these types of movies. But there is always an exception that proves the rule. In The Birds, an iconic film by director Alfred Hitchock (inspired by the eponymous short story by Daphne du Maurier), such musical intrusion was dispensed with, as the director wanted to give voice to these apparently harmless beings that terrorize the population of Bodega Bay (Bernard Herrmann appears in the credits only as sound consultant). The film, which dates from 1963, continues to promote an intense discussion about its meaning and the most varied hypotheses have been put forward, since the ending is left open, with the birds victoriously watching the removal of humans (of course Hitchcock knew that not giving an explanation would contribute to accentuating the mystery and interest that the film arouses, it is not his best film, but it is certainly one of the most enigmatic). Choosing the blonde on duty (one of my favorites) was also a winning bet. Tippi Hedren, the unlikely heroine, perfectly plays the role of the fragile young woman, who is able to stand up to the bloodthirsty bird though. Her image of scared eyes and disheveled hair covering herself with her hand is memorable. As far as I am concerned, the scene dominated by the couple of lovebirds always comes to mind, swinging along the curves, in the convertible on the way to Bodega Bay, inside a cage, without having the right to enjoy the landscape, as a trigger for the revolt of the birds.

I've been listening to a podcast about Alfred Hitchcock in the past few weeks, so I decided to take a look and see which of his films I could watch with minimal fuss. "The Birds" was, of all things, on regular non streaming television (I know!) last week, so I set the recorder and watched it for the first time in a while. I have to say that, despite a couple of flaws, I really rather enjoyed it.

Melanie Daniels (Tippi Hedren) heads to a small coastal town on the west coast of America, to connect with Mitch Brenner (Rod Taylor). The pairs awkward courtship is interrupted by moments of unusual and violent behaviour from the bird population of the town. The scale of the violence increases with each incident, causing the Daniels and Brenner to barricade themselves in Brenner's farmhouse.

Interestingly, watching it today what "The Birds" feels most like, particularly once you get to the farmhouse assault is a zombie film, with a mostly unseen force banging on the doors and desperate fortifications that have been hastily assembled. It does take quite a while to get to the bird attacks, but I did enjoy the slightly salacious romantic comedy drama that the film is, prior to the shift into becoming a horror film. Hedren and Taylor are a delightful pair, but there's intrigue afoot with his former girlfriend now the schoolteacher in town and his mother seemingly unhappy about any potential romance.

Admittedly, the composite work on mixing bird footage in with the filmed pieces hasn't aged well and, though I don't need my films to each be tied up in a nice bow, the ending remains one of the most ". . . Wait, what?. . ." moments in all of film. To describe it as anticlimactical doesn't do the term justice.

I still enjoyed it though and, with certain caveats, would recommend it.

1963 was the year and they are still here, mesmerizing, enthralling, entertaining from beginning to end and no music. The sounds of the birds, the attacks, are the music the movie needs. Tippi Hedren, a Hitchcock blonde, head to toe. We follow her as if we knew her and Rod Taylor, well, we know we know him, so it all moves like a potential romantic comedy but there is something in the air that doesn't allow us that frame of mind. Jessica Tandy introduces another Hitchcockian character, the castrating mother and it's wonderful and suspenseful, her slow surrender to Melanie Daniels. It must be a sign of greatness when you can watch The Birds, 60 years after its debut and enjoy it as if was yesterday.