Birds Like Us

Taken from a 12th-13th century Persian Sufi poem by Farid Ud-Din Attar."The Conference of the Birds", concerning birds, speech, frailties & faults, enlightenment as they symbolically relate to humans. Very different animation (quality slightly above average) from what one typically sees (definitely not Disney like), but interesting. Following the storyline can be confusing, but part of it's charm. Eastern European & Turkish influences.

Oh dear. At two minutes I wasn't 'getting' this movie; at five minutes I realised I definitely wasn't enjoying it. Even the intro sequence had pained me, with its pinpoint of light meandering all over the place for what seemed like an endless time (we actually thought our DVD player had broken!).

By ten minutes I had surmised I couldn't even follow the bizarre mood of the film. I didn't understand its odd camera angles, recoiled from its unlikeable main characters (who were also drawn to be far too grotesque), and the non sequiturs of the script just messed up any storyline. So I decided to persist no more, and hit the power 'off' button.

The main problem was that the DVD's artwork had marketed the film in a particular way, that turned out to be grossly misleading. The artwork was made with a bold font and cheery prime colours, had illustrations of fun-looking birds on the front, and a sassy tag line of "Feathers will fly". In other words it looked like a standard animation film: fun, great for kids, with a comedic script to suit the roster of British actors in the cast. Instead, it turned out to be a VERY different style of film: sombre and laden with message, full of semi-artistic allegory and fable. Had I been expecting that - ie been in the mood to watch a 'worthy' film - I might have been able to handle the movie's symbolism and mystic tone. But I wasn't. And when the film wasn't even well put together, which I discovered as it continued, I simply had to give up on it. It was just a sequence of unrelated, disjointed scenes. A diatribe of a movie.

I don't even feel I can give the film any kind of a star rating at IMDb, as I only managed to digest a little of the total offering. And as it was initially a viewing failure because of misleading branding and advertising, we were not best pleased. Dishonesty is not the best policy! I hope the next animation film we pick up is made truer to its pictorial description.

"Don't listen to the Naysayers, because what do they say, but Nay?" I can't believe the negative reviews to this movie. Put your phone down and quiet your short attention span. We did. You will be richly rewarded.

Watch this film and open your mind to the possibilities in the world. Listen. It's message is simple, uplifting, and just the antidote we needed to a dreary day. The animation is actually mind blowing, just not in a style of its contemporaries. I say it's better. Think FernGully : The Last Rainforest, compared to its contemporaries. If you love Peter Gabriel (we do), the soundtrack and songs are great, as well. Highly recommended.

Apparently, this is based on "The Conference of the Birds" by 13th century Sufi poet Farid ud-Din Attar. In a devastated world, different species of birds find sanctuary under a large isolated tree called Birdabad. A system called Egguilibrium has been set up where the fruit eating birds offer their eggs to the meat eating birds. Hupu intends to save her egg and overthrow the system ruled by Kondor.

The animation is rudimentary. It's at least a decade obsolete. The designs are wonky although that has its charm. It is different from most other animation. I do like the idea of the post-apocalyptic world. It does leave a lot of questions unanswered. That does fit the premise of this movie. A bird wouldn't understand anything about the human world or quite frankly, the larger natural world. Some of the designs are interesting but the emptiness is otherworldly. This is an odd animated film. At least, it's different.

Pre Intro: Even the intro is slow; There is a sense of interest to it that is repeatedly drowned in its simplistic boring bits(spawning white dot on the screen). What is of slight interest(The dot scribbling and shooting out vague images) is interesting at first till it drags for to long. I barely made it past the intro then the movie opens with its animation.

- Animation I'd say it's right below acceptable and verging on uncanny; I did like the minor bit in which the trees/stems got a sort of effect that made them look like an ancient illustration of some sort but sadly, the effect was secondary to the primary animation. More on the animation, whoever made this must have been proud because the film takes its time making sure we marvel at its barren/charmless settings. I personally would have switched to 2D, that would have been easier on the eyes if not captivating/competent.

- I may be missing something but I'm sure whatever wonder-less adventure our off looking protagonist would set out for wouldn't be worth it.

- The Sky Princess was a strange/uncanny experience but had a decent story Leo The Lion was durable, The Missing Linx was different and decent, But this was on pare with Iced and jungle shuffle with its boring/unacceptable animation.

- Well, had the story not felt the need to constantly remind me of its plot points/tease the journey and if the character's wouldn't state their ambitions/descriptions, I would have stuck around a bit longer.