Fig. 1 The Birds Film Poster
Alfred Hitchcock's 1963 film "The Birds" is one of Hitchcock’s unusual films in many ways but this counts to why it is such a masterpiece. He decided to return to colour with "The Birds" this was a big step after Psycho which had been in black and white and was such a success. Based on Daphne du Maurier 1952 novel "The Birds" and the third major film based on this authors work directed by Hitchcock. In the book birds were attacking a village in the English countryside, rather than a small town near San Francisco as Hitchcock directed.
Fig. 2 The Birds Film Still
We watch Melanie Daniels, who is a young wealthy socialite and whose father is the owner of a newspaper company in Sam Francisco, meet lawyer, Mitch Brenner in a San Francisco pet shop. Mitch pretends to mistake her for a sales person, so
she capitalizes on the opportunity of what she thinks is a practical joke. However he already knows who she is and the joke backfires on her infuriating Melanie, leading her to inquire as to the reason for his behaviour towards her. He then mentions a previous encounter that he had with her and states that he doesn’t appreciate practical jokes. Intrigued by Mitch, Melanie finds the address of his home in Bodega Bay. A little seaside town 60 miles north of San Francisco, to deliver some lover birds that he enquired about when they both met. She visits his house by sneaking across the small harbour in a motor boat, leaving a note and the two love birds. As she is heading back across the bay he spots her and drives back to the bay to meet her. Just as she arrives back at the port a seagull swoops down and inflicts a cut on her head.
Fig. 3 The Birds Film Still
Over the next few days, various other attacks happen, as Melanie's relationship with Mitch develops. As well as her relationship with his clinging mother Lydia, his young sister Cathy and Cathy's teacher (Mitch’s ex lover) Annie Hayworth develops. The second bird incident occurs when Melanie stays the night at Annie’s house as she has no where else to stay and a seagull kills itself upon flying into the front door. The next attack occurs at Cathy's party when several seagulls attack the child for no reason. After another attack by crows at the school, an argument erupts at the local bar between the residents. An old woman, an amateur ornithologist, insists that calling birds' behaviour attacks is an exaggeration, and that no bird species flocks would attack humans. Despite her words, moments after a motorist is attacked while filling his car up and he is knocked unconscious. The gasoline continues to pump out onto the street causing an explosion and a fire to start. While hiding inside the bar, a scared mother believes Melanie is the cause of these attacks as they started the day she turned up at the bay.
Fig. 4 The Birds Film Still
Melanie and Mitch's family take refuge in Mitch's house, boarding up the windows and doors. The house is attacked by the birds and they almost are able to break through the doors and windows. Melanie hears noises from the upper floor when everyone else is asleep and finds that the birds have broken through the roof. They attack her and prevent her from leaving the room until Mitch comes to her rescue and determine she must be got to a hospital. Whilst he was going to get the car, Mitch checks the radio reports and finds that there have been several smaller bird attacks nearby. The film concludes with the car driving away as thousands of birds sit and watch.
Fig. 5 The Birds Film Still
One thing that is so intriguing with "The Birds" is that "Alfred Hitchcock and screenwriter Evan Hunter remove the film of context- the puzzling Whyness of what is happening is something that stands over the film with far more anxiety and unease than do any of the individual attacks" (Scheib,1999) There is one scene that shows this so well, when the locals are trying to offer up an rational explanation for why the birds are attacking. But Hitchcock and Hunter neither confirm nor deny any of the explanations leaving the audience confused because they is no reason for why everything is happening. Then ending is one of the most baffling ends and has become one of the most famous anticlimaxes to a film in history. The audience watch as the Mitch and the others leave the farm, with the birds simply sitting watching them drive away, after everything that had happen the previous night. Resulting in the film not only having no explanation for events and the film fading off in a state of ambiguity.
Critics are bafflers when they attempt to interpret Hitchcock's "The Birds" but the "film's complex fabric makes more sense, especially if interpreted in Freudian terms." (Dirks, 2000) So in Freudian terms it is about four needy women each flocking around and looking for the varying degrees of affection and attention, from the emotionally cold male lead. As well as the anxieties and unpredictable relationship between them. Also if you look at this film in Freudian terms that attacks can mysteriously can be related to the mother and son relationship in the film. The anger, the fear of abandonment and jealousy are the reason for the initial hostility the mother has when her son brings home an attractive young woman. The first attack that happen can been seen as a symbolic undertone, that Melanie should return back to San Francisco and leave her son alone.
infuriating Melanie, leading her to inquire as to the reason for his behaviour towards her. He then mentions a previous encounter that he had with her and states that he doesn’t appreciate practical jokes. Intrigued by Mitch, Melanie finds the address of his home in Bodega Bay. A little seaside town 60 miles north of San Francisco, to deliver some lover birds that he enquired about when they both met. She visits his house by sneaking across the small harbour in a motor boat, leaving a note and the two love birds. As she is heading back across the bay he spots her and drives back to the bay to meet her. Just as she arrives back at the great and lasting film.
Fig. 6 The Birds Film Still
"The Birds" has some of the most disturbing and suspenseful sequences of any Hitchcock film." (Travers,,2008) One scene that is memorable is the edited sequence, when Melanie is brutally attacked by the birds for what seems like eternity, until Mitch pulls her out of the attic. Also one of the most unsettling and very distinctive mood of "The Birds" it is eerie effects with sound. There are several scenes throughout the film when the sounds of birds are played over sequences where there is no human speech. Hitchcock used the right amount of suspense and effects in these scenes to create another
List Of Illusrtations
Figure. 1 The Birds (1963) The Birds Film Still.
http://www.myuca.ucreative.ac.uk/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=null&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_13550_1%26url%3D (Accessed on 13/02/2011)
http://www.myuca.ucreative.ac.uk/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=null&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_13550_1%26url%3D (Accessed on 13/02/2011)
Figure. 2 The Birds (1963) The Birds Film Still. http://dragsterwave90.blogspot.com/2011/02/birds.html (Accessed on 13/02/2011)
Figure. 4 The Birds (1963) The Birds Film Still. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/vine/showthread.php?p=14806749 (Accessed on 13/02/2011)
Figure. 5 The Birds (1963) The Birds Film Still. http://www.shadowsandscreams.com/part 4/ (Accessed on 13/02/2011)
Figure. 6 The Birds (1963) The Birds Film Still. http://www.ferdyonfilms.com/?p=103 (Accessed on 13/02/2011)
Bibliography
Scheib, Richard (1999) THE BIRDS. http://www.moria.co.nz/horror/birds-1963.htm (Accessed on 13/02/2011)
Travers, James (2008) The Birds (1963). http://filmsdefrance.com/FDF_The_Birds_1963_rev.html (Accessed on 13/02/2011)
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