Film Review: The Birds

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Alfred Hitchcock doing what he does best in directing The Birds, a tension filled thriller which comes across as massively un-nerving and sinister as flocks of birds start to attack people for no reason. It is based on a book of the same name by Daphne du Maurier and was released in 1963 so represents one of Hitchcock's later films in his career.

In 2007 it was announced there would be a remake made by Platinum Dunes and Mandalay Pictures starring Naomi Watts and George Clooney in the main roles (thought these two would have known better). The development of the project has since stalled so is not likely to be filmed anytime soon but Tippi Hedren has already come out publicly asking why the film is being remade and denouncing Hollywood for not having any original ideas. I agree but considering she was in the abysmal sequel that was made, her comments come across as slightly hypocritical.

Melanie Daniels (Tippi Hedren) escaping the birds with children from the local school

Melanie Daniels (Tippi Hedren) meets a young lawyer called Mitch Brenner (Rod Taylor) in a pet shop in San Francisco, where she gets annoyed as he pretends to mistake her for a salesperson. She takes a boat over to the harbour to his house to deliver two love birds that he wanted for his sister's birthday. On the boat ride over a bird flies down and collides with her head causing a deep cut. Bird attacks continue over the next few days with increasing numbers and violence which lead to the deaths of some local people. Nobody understands why the attacks are happening or how to stop them.

The main criticism I had with the copy I watched was that it had been restored into colour rather than keeping the original black and white. This unfortunately made it look less realistic and made the birds less frightening and sinister than they were in black and white (having seen quite a few scenes in black and white on the internet). Certain films just look better in black and white than they do in colour (The Artist for example) and this film certainly falls into that category. But without doubt the effects are superb for a film made in 1963 with a remake made in the 90's not looking much better in terms of realism.

One of the victims of a bird attack

The suspense of the birds slowly gathering in certain scenes, especially outside the school on the playground, is something I thought was brilliant and much scarier than the attacks themselves. The ending is truly unsettling and could not be bettered in my opinion for many different reasons, certain questions are left unanswered which only adds to the uncomfortable nature of the film.

2.5/4 not as thrilling or terrifying as earlier Hitchcock work but a unique idea without a doubt.