Question:
After watching this on TV the other night it came to my attention just how slow it is!
Hitchcock is probably my favourite director of all time but I still can't understand how it gets the high acclaim it does. Certainly not one of his better films, which I think are "Vertigo", North By Northwest", "Strangers On A Train", "Rear Window" and "Frenzy".
Anyone care to comment on "The Birds"?
Not wishing be appear sarcastic...but I suppose it is what is termed Suspense and Tension. Much like Psycho, the thrill is not is what actually happens but the anticipation of what might happen. I think the final attack is just superb because you don't see anything. All done with camera moves and sound. I think The Birds was Hitch's last great film. Marnie is a bit dated but still interesting. Torn Curtain and Topaz are forgattable cold war thrillers and Frenzy, whilst still a good movie has dated terribly and has some very dodgy acting from some chirpy cockneys! Family Plot was a final gasp and has an amusing script but doesn't stand up to closer examinantion. Personally I love The Birds - I remember it as being one of those movies that your parent always used to speak about and when you finally saw it were ultimately disappointed.
Birds has become a blueprint for dozens if not hundreds of monster thrillers but its still the best.
I can't think of another horror thriller that can cause so much fear during the day or out in the open ... I mean how bored are you of watching horror/thrillers that are filmed in the dark or in enclosed spaces?
Birds is one of my favourite Hitchcock movies.
Yes but it takes around the 55 minute mark before a gull first attacks Hendri, and even that is a peck on the head.
There is some suspensful moments but I fail to see what all the flirting between the two leads has to do with the plot?
Originally posted by Kevin Harper
Marnie is a bit dated but still interesting.
I'd agree with your comments regarding The Birds, but I couldn't resist the temptation to mention that I think Marnie is Hitchcock's finest moment, even though I know I'm in the minority on that one... it's one of the few films I can think of that leaves me emotionally exhausted after viewing.
Originally posted by pmdf
I'd agree with your comments regarding The Birds, but I couldn't resist the temptation to mention that I think Marnie is Hitchcock's finest moment, even though I know I'm in the minority on that one... it's one of the few films I can think of that leaves me emotionally exhausted after viewing.
I'd go along with that - it's one of those films that has improved with age. Dismissed on its original release but sort of grown into a cult film as it was out of step with the rest of Hitch's output at the time. The only film that has the same kind of theme is Vertigo which is still my favourite of all his films. Again, not highly regarded in 1958 but constantly appears in many top 10's of all time.
To answer chris 21's comment about the 55 minutes in The Birds where nothing much happens...so what? The flirting between the two leads was to trick the audience into thinking it was a sort of 30's screwball comedy type lot before we get down to the bird attacks. Same scenario with Psycho. For 30 minutes you think the story is about Janet Leigh and then STAB! EEEK EEEK EEEK! - she is no more. What has the audience left to latch onto? A nice young man who becomes the focus of your attention for the rest of the film and then........a masterstroke from a master director. Are there many other directors who worked for 50 years an left a body of work like this?
I don't thing many people went to watch "The Birds" thinking it was a screwball comedy though did they?
Which kind of leaves the audience waiting, and waiting, and waiting.
Originally posted by chris21
I don't thing many people went to watch "The Birds" thinking it was a screwball comedy though did they?
Which kind of leaves the audience waiting, and waiting, and waiting.
I'm not saying they did expect to see a screwball comedy. This was just Hitch's way of tricking the audience into a false sense of security. In his interview with Francois Truffaut he says that audiences go into a cinema and say "Ok, Show me!". Well Hitchcock's response was to keep one step ahead. They were always expecting to be able to read ahead and predict what was coming. By not showing anything much at all he lulls them into thinking that something horrible is going to happen. It builds and builds to the attack in the attic (where you don't see a lot) and then the ending is an anticlimax as you expect more. Just different that's all. By this time in his career Hitchcock could do no wrong and he wanted to stay one step ahead.
Hitchcock is probably my favourite director of all time but I still can't understand how it gets the high acclaim it does. Certainly not one of his better films, which I think are "Vertigo", North By Northwest", "Strangers On A Train", "Rear Window" and "Frenzy".
Anyone care to comment on "The Birds"?
Answers:
Not wishing be appear sarcastic...but I suppose it is what is termed Suspense and Tension. Much like Psycho, the thrill is not is what actually happens but the anticipation of what might happen. I think the final attack is just superb because you don't see anything. All done with camera moves and sound. I think The Birds was Hitch's last great film. Marnie is a bit dated but still interesting. Torn Curtain and Topaz are forgattable cold war thrillers and Frenzy, whilst still a good movie has dated terribly and has some very dodgy acting from some chirpy cockneys! Family Plot was a final gasp and has an amusing script but doesn't stand up to closer examinantion. Personally I love The Birds - I remember it as being one of those movies that your parent always used to speak about and when you finally saw it were ultimately disappointed.
Answers:
Birds has become a blueprint for dozens if not hundreds of monster thrillers but its still the best.
I can't think of another horror thriller that can cause so much fear during the day or out in the open ... I mean how bored are you of watching horror/thrillers that are filmed in the dark or in enclosed spaces?
Birds is one of my favourite Hitchcock movies.
Answers:
Yes but it takes around the 55 minute mark before a gull first attacks Hendri, and even that is a peck on the head.
There is some suspensful moments but I fail to see what all the flirting between the two leads has to do with the plot?
Answers:
Originally posted by Kevin Harper
Marnie is a bit dated but still interesting.
I'd agree with your comments regarding The Birds, but I couldn't resist the temptation to mention that I think Marnie is Hitchcock's finest moment, even though I know I'm in the minority on that one... it's one of the few films I can think of that leaves me emotionally exhausted after viewing.
Answers:
Originally posted by pmdf
I'd agree with your comments regarding The Birds, but I couldn't resist the temptation to mention that I think Marnie is Hitchcock's finest moment, even though I know I'm in the minority on that one... it's one of the few films I can think of that leaves me emotionally exhausted after viewing.
I'd go along with that - it's one of those films that has improved with age. Dismissed on its original release but sort of grown into a cult film as it was out of step with the rest of Hitch's output at the time. The only film that has the same kind of theme is Vertigo which is still my favourite of all his films. Again, not highly regarded in 1958 but constantly appears in many top 10's of all time.
To answer chris 21's comment about the 55 minutes in The Birds where nothing much happens...so what? The flirting between the two leads was to trick the audience into thinking it was a sort of 30's screwball comedy type lot before we get down to the bird attacks. Same scenario with Psycho. For 30 minutes you think the story is about Janet Leigh and then STAB! EEEK EEEK EEEK! - she is no more. What has the audience left to latch onto? A nice young man who becomes the focus of your attention for the rest of the film and then........a masterstroke from a master director. Are there many other directors who worked for 50 years an left a body of work like this?
Answers:
I don't thing many people went to watch "The Birds" thinking it was a screwball comedy though did they?
Which kind of leaves the audience waiting, and waiting, and waiting.
Answers:
Originally posted by chris21
I don't thing many people went to watch "The Birds" thinking it was a screwball comedy though did they?
Which kind of leaves the audience waiting, and waiting, and waiting.
I'm not saying they did expect to see a screwball comedy. This was just Hitch's way of tricking the audience into a false sense of security. In his interview with Francois Truffaut he says that audiences go into a cinema and say "Ok, Show me!". Well Hitchcock's response was to keep one step ahead. They were always expecting to be able to read ahead and predict what was coming. By not showing anything much at all he lulls them into thinking that something horrible is going to happen. It builds and builds to the attack in the attic (where you don't see a lot) and then the ending is an anticlimax as you expect more. Just different that's all. By this time in his career Hitchcock could do no wrong and he wanted to stay one step ahead.
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