The Birds (1963)

A socialite travels to a seaside town in the hopes of finding a man she had met the day before in San Francisco, and in whom she seems to have developed an interest. The man's mother, at whose house he is staying during the weekend, is not very friendly toward the newcomer. However, these dramatic incidents soon take back seat to the fact that the local birds begin attacking the people.

This is a very interesting concept, superbly translated into images. The question of interpretation must be dealt with. One of course is not obliged to look for scientific explanations, and the filmmaker has even explicitly disavowed them. Allegoric interpretations are welcome, of course, even if they are done in a purely ludic spirit. In a trivial sense, the birds are there with the purpose of bringing a couple together; they neutralize, by effect of sheer havoc, the initial dispositions of Mitch's mother, and bring all characters together. They are love-birds, in a word. Beyond that, and perhaps even beyond allegory in a strict sense, the film is the manifestation of a symptom of a political and social order. This symptom is a certain fear which could only happen in imperialist countries (the source story was written by an Englishwoman). Those countries must perpetually live under the menace of those other countries or peoples which were touched by their actions. Sometimes this menace is not physical, but translates into guilt. One can look for historical examples of what I am talking about, which were relevant for the year in which this film was made (e.g., 'Melanie' occupies herself as a guardian for a Korean orphan). One can also look into the future of that year and see what would happen. In 1963 the U.S. was starting a war in Vietnam. Racial integration was also occurring around that time period. And 1965 was the fatidic year when the U.S. would open the door to immigration through the Hart-Celler act. So, The Birds was indeed a symptomatic film, and a prophetic one too.

Rating: 72 (up from 68)