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Doug
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« Reply #1 on: January 09, 2019, 11:48:07 PM » |
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I've seen two Hitchcock films in the cinemas, North by Northwest and this one. For The Birds there were some snickers from the audience over what are clearly some rather dated, or even cornier, moments or lines of dialogue, but I don't remember the exact moments anymore, and I don't think anyone meant any harm by it but it does take you out of the moment. Still, I think there's so many great moments in the movie that even a modern audience can appreciate it. I grew up watching it, so I've seen bunches of times, and the scenes that always stood out to me were the various attacks. The one on the playground when the birds start gathering on the monkey bars. The shots of the dead people with their eyes missing, the scene inside the phone booth, and the suspense of waiting for the birds to attack when they're inside the house. Finally my favorite moment is the god's-eye view of the birds coming down to attack.
I'll ask what people think of the lack of music in the film. I think it's effective and the use of bird sound effects in its place is very much ahead of its time.
It's not one of my favorite Hitchcock films but it surely was when I younger.
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"Yes, well, when I see five weirdos dressed in togas stabbing a guy in the middle of a park in full view of a hundred people, I shoot the bastards, that's my policy." Frank Drebin, Police Squad.
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AKA23
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« Reply #2 on: January 13, 2019, 12:41:35 PM » |
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I just finished watching this. I'd never seen her before, but I liked Tippi Hedrin. Like Aline, I think I preferred her classier, understated, and less sassy personality, to Grace Kelly's performances, but they're both very attractive ladies.
I'm a fan of Suzanne Pleshette's, since I like the "Bob Newhart Show," so I was pleasantly surprised to see her in this film.
I bet most people feel differently, but I don't like how we never discover why the birds went insane and started attacking all the townspeople. Without some explanation being provided, it makes the movie seem wildly unrealistic.
To answer Doug's question, I was actually okay with there not being a soundtrack to this movie. In fact, until I read Doug's post, I didn't actually notice that the only sounds that we heard were the terrifying birds screeching.
Overall, I found it to be a very strange movie, but am glad that I finally saw it. Now whenever someone mentions "The Birds," I'll be able to follow the conversation, and maybe even contribute some thoughts.
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KC
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« Reply #3 on: January 13, 2019, 06:58:47 PM » |
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I just finished watching this. I'd never seen her before, but I liked Tippi Hedrin. Like Aline, I think I preferred her classier, understated, and less sassy personality, to Grace Kelly's performances, but they're both very attractive ladies.
AKA, you have seen her before ... in Marnie. She has 84 credits as an actress in the IMDb, but she is best remembered for these two Hitchcock roles at the beginning of her career.
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AKA23
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« Reply #8 on: January 14, 2019, 01:44:23 PM » |
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I think some explanation is needed, since randomly having hundreds of birds attacking townspeople isn't something people would expect birds to do normally. During the production of this movie, I think there may have been an isolated incident related to poisoning that caused birds to act out, but this had already happened by the time that they wrote the short story/script for this, so that couldn't have been the reason within the movie.
At first, I thought that the movie was symbolically intimating that Melanie's presence in the town may have had something to do with the bird attacks, for two reasons. First, because of the scene when the woman earlier in the film communicated that before Melanie's arrival in the town, this wasn't happening. Secondly, because once Melanie is severely injured by the bird attack near the end of the film, it seemed that the birds stopped their attacks and let everyone leave the house. However, the radio said that these attacks had also occurred in other areas where Melanie was not present, so what was already a pretty implausible reason initially became even more of a stretch at that point. So, as a viewer, I'm still left wondering, what caused these random bird attacks on humans, and should this be something to be expected again at some other point in the future?
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Doug
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« Reply #12 on: January 23, 2019, 04:33:54 AM » |
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You know, I've never liked the way that scene was shot, as if it was just a series of photographs as she watches it happen.
I think it was genius to film it that way. It works for me. Here's how I'd rank the films, more or less, since it's been a while since I've seen a couple of them, and it doesn't include Sabotage as I don't think I've seen it. Rear Window North by Northwest Shadow of a Doubt Notorious Psycho The Lady Vanishes Rebecca Spellbound To Catch a Thief The Birds The 39 Steps Strangers on a Train Marnie
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"Yes, well, when I see five weirdos dressed in togas stabbing a guy in the middle of a park in full view of a hundred people, I shoot the bastards, that's my policy." Frank Drebin, Police Squad.
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