I’m constantly being bombarded by people telling him “you haven’t seen ____? You gotta check it out.” Or hearing critics rave “this movie is a classic, a must see.” So I decided that from now on every time I actually watch one of these flicks, I’ll write my take on whether the film lived up to the hype or fell short.
So, what’s the deal with The Birds?
The Birds is the first Hitchcock movie I’ve watched that didn’t exactly meet my expectations. It still had a certain level of creepiness that all of his movies have and that caused me to be very intrigued by how the plot was unfolding, but ultimately the ending fell short of what I was expected. The credits began to roll when I thought there would be maybe another twenty minutes to wrap up the plot. Due to this, I left the theater wondering what happened to the main characters. Was this town the only town where the birds were attacking people? When they reach their destination would that town be plagued as well? And were the birds actually only going after Melanie? The movie left a lot of questions unanswered when I was hoping for a more resolved conclusion.
That being said, as with other Hitchcock movies I’ve seen, the time was taken to develop the characters so that you understood them and had an investment in their safety. The level of depth in the central characters could almost make for its own movie. Besides the characters, I also enjoyed the settings. The main chunk of the movie depicts Bodega Bay. The location is pretty outstanding. It’s a quaint coastal town separated by a bay with a long road connecting the two sections.
I definitely liked Psycho and Rear Window more than The Birds. I think the abrupt ending to the movie soured my view on it some. I would be more than willing to give it another watch at some point to see if I have a better experience knowing what to expect.