20250603:
After watching the movie, I immediately went to look up what it meant. The main theme mentioned is about the retalitation of nature. Reading this, I figured that makes sense. There was an explicit mention by the ornithologist. She said birds are kind and it's humans who have invaded their space.
Then, afterwards, I watched a teaser (or what seemed like what would be a teaser in the 1960s) where Alfred Hitchock begins with some facts about how humans have used birds for decoration (feathers / whole) and food. There is some humor in the teaser, but also an implication that what humans have been doing is wrong. The movie ends with his finger being bitten by a bird in a cage and then Melanie comes through the door shouting "They're coming!"
I like conversations and story, but the ending was too abstract for me. Perhaps I'm so accustomed to modern movies which spell so much out.
Rating: 4.0/5
Instant Comments:
1a: hehe teasing her. he knew she was lying as he continued to test her. funny is she didn't catch on that he knew
1a: is this really how it was back then? you can just ask whatever you want and people freely giving information out about others
1a: what a strange woman. she's flirting with him? perhaps the Hayworth woman has similarly been involved with Mitch, i.e., she seemed to have hinted as much earlier
1a: paused at 25 minute mark
1a: while resuming the movie, it occurs to me from the movie's description this is an Alfred Hitchcock movie
1b: love how the bleeding continues. I would have probably wiped the wound with a handkerchief
1b: hehe the interaction between the mother and the woman
1b: It's interesting how he uses terms of endearment with his mother: "Dear" "Darling"
1b: haha. quite a fun conversation between the two. he did handle it quite well. in particular, he sees through her lies and got her to open up quite a bit
1b: wow. you just don't get gravity like that in movies nowadays... not that I can remember. At least rarely. Though to be fair there is survival bias ("But it isn't dark out Annie, it's a full moon." Annie looks over at her and the scene fades away)
1b: Yikes. I expected he'd be dead but that's rather gruesome. Also interesting is that she didn't scream. She just ran out in shock. And she didn't even tell the workhand
1b: I feel like there is a subtle suspense for me in that leaving the mother to check on Cathy exposes the mother to potential harm. However, then logically I figure the mother is an important figure that helps develop the story. So she probably wouldn't die, at least perhaps not until some closure occurs between her and Melanie
1b: the crow in the background
1b: more crows...
1b: hehe more crows
1b: whoa. that's well done. she tracks the one crow and it lands and now we see the playground is crowded with them. very stark number imagery
1b: manual rollup windows. I remember those. from what I recall, as a passenger, I don't mind so much, but the convenience of using electronic buttons from the driver seat to control the other windows definitely is a convenience
1b: conversations feel very organic. with the waitress yelling out something and interrupting the old woman. it's still fictional in the realm of movies, but it feels more organic
1b: oh no the gasoline
1b: huh. this woman is hysterical. like Salem Witch trials type hysteria. clearly Melanie can't be the cause. like birds aren't going crazy in her presence. She was living her whole life elsewhere without crazy birds. if anything from her point of view, she would believe it's all the fault of Bodega Bay
1b: oh no. not Annie Hayworth. though why would she have gone outside to begin with? perhaps she was escorting Cathy home and got attacked before she herself could get inside. the thing is she doesn't look so attacked as to be dead
1b: interesting. the mother's intuition is to go towards the wall. I suppose that makes sense as then your assumption is whatever is attacking is in front of you. but I suppose I would choose a different wall, internal to the house, as opposed to one that's near a window, which would be the assumed source of the birds
1b: okay. now they moved to the bookcase.
1b: that mirror is so thin. it would just tip over
1b: oh nice. he came back to nail it to the door
1b: though were houses made of anythign different then? how would they peck through the door but not the walls of the house?
1b: the lovebirds?
1b: hmm they seem fine
1b: yikes. what's gonna happen. caption refers to the sound as "soft fluttering"
1b: don't open the door
1b: why would she do that?
1b: but I feel worse is her failure to open the door
1b: seems silly. not sure like... from a story point of view... what's the point
1b: she looks already dead
1b: I suppose one interesting thing is no one has guns and is shooting the birds. and here like he carefully moves his car up as opposed to like squashing a couple
1b: also interesting is how during this scene some birds grab at him even though this is like the non-aggressive phase
1b: hehe the lovebirds... my goodness. how will this movie end
1b: that's a touching moment. Melanie in the arms of Mitch's mother. as she earlier spoke of not knowing a mother's love as her own mother left when she was young
1b: wow. that's it. gripping
1a=20250602,1b=20250603
Watched 20250602, 20250603 (Netflix, Instant)
The Birds (1963) Alfred Hitchcock. 119 min
Relevant Links:
The Birds (IMDb.com)
The Birds (RottenTomatoes.com)
The Birds (film) (Wikipedia.org)
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