kegn

Sunday, October 29, 2006

Halloween movie review : Alred Hitchcock's The Birds



This is a favorite of mine. It's a cold disturbing movie, but well crafted and I think a good example of Hitchcock's "women problems"--as my friends would say. The leading female characters are:
Tippi Hedren : a spoiled socialite [from the Paris Hilton variety] She gets traumatized by the birds for her punishment. All she wanted to do was chase her latest obsession , hunky lawyer Rod Taylor, to his hometown of Bodega Bay. But she's not the only one who gets punished.

Suzanne Pleshette: the chain smoking sad sack. She is Rod's ex girlfriend, now the town's school teacher. The poor gal couldn't start a new life of her own. She's hanging on to old memories.Pathetic. The birds put her out of her misery. Comic Mario Cantone has a great bit on Pleshette and the school children's song in his routine. [The famous shot of the birds perched at the playground. Maybe it's on youtube]

Finally, there is Rod's widowed mother Jessica Tandy. Very Clingy. Has trouble remembering that Rod is her son and not her husband and gets resentful and bitchy when young ladies are around him.

Maybe it is Taylor's fault. He's the reason the women can't function in this movie . His Aussie manliness is too much ;)
But yeah, the women characters are depicted so ..negatively.
I'd throw in the freaked out mother in the diner scene too. She loses her sanity in a matter of minutes and stares wildly at Tippi screaming :"Why are they doing this? Why are they doing this? They said when you got here, the whole thing started. Who are you? What are you? Where did you come from? I think you're the cause of all this. I think you're evil! EVIL! !"
Way to go lady. They need you at the Salem Witch trials now.

Still, I love this movie. I love the attack on the diner/the gas station. Chaos within minutes. It's very believable. I love the claustrophobic last scenes where the only thing you hear are the birds and their screeching.[ It's a madhouse! A madhouse!]
Plus the school children attack always gets me.

So to give you a Halloween scare , I just read that Michael Bay will be remaking this movie
Now that is scary.






[photos: Hitchcocktv.com. Babyatalog.com. yes, babycatalog. Weird]

posted by kegn_15 at 2:45 PM

6 Comments:

  • Awesome review. Y'know, I think instead of having the Truffaut/Hitchcock interview, they should've had the Keegan/Hitchcock interview. I'd buy THAT F'n book!

    Oh my god...and they are actually LETTING Michael Bay touch this? Is there no one left in Hitchcock's family who can beat that guy down for the good of humanity??

    By Blogger Lori, at 3:59 PM  

  • Way to go, Keegs! Cap'n Jack would givs you THREE thumbs up (you know where the third one would come from)!

    And as for the doll from babycatalog.com... I want one!

    Where in the world do you dig this stuff up from?

    By Blogger TheOneTrueGuy, at 6:18 PM  

  • Thanks. I wanted to write more, with something much more informative to give off the impression that I know films. But really , I don't know that much. They take awhile too. I'm working on another Halloween flick review, that I hope to get out before the 31st.

    yeah. Michael Bay. I can just see it. CGI birds. Ben Affleck in the Rod Taylor role.

    G-- Yeah that doll is creepy. I read some gossipy info that ol'Alfie boy used to send a very similiar doll to Tippi and her daughter Melanie. Twisted.
    I found the pix through google images : "the birds alfred hitchcock"

    By Blogger kegn_15, at 7:34 PM  

  • fab review keegs! why oh why does ANYONE want to remake this film? did't they learn after psycho II? not a remake, but you leave the classic as it is, it was never intended to have a sequal(i think).

    my fave is rear window and dave's all time most favorite film is north by northwest.

    and i still like poltergeist ;) they're heerrreee....

    By Blogger Unknown, at 8:43 PM  

  • Rear Window was my first intro to Hitchcock. Great visual storytelling. We saw the re-release a couple years back. I love North by Northwest too. Bernard Herrmann's score is one of my favorites.

    The only one that I was dsappointed in was The Man Who Knew Too Much with Jimmy Stewart and Doris day. It kind of drags, and again, Hitchcock's woman can't deal with the heavy shit so they sedate her in this movie. But she wakes up in time to sing Que Sera Sera and make it a smash hit on the radio charts ; )

    I remember seeing Poltergeist in the movies and screaming when the evil Bird Bird devil thing creature comes out of the closet and screams at Craig T. Nelson. Still love it though. But yeah, Bird Bird possessed ran through my mind at the time.

    By Blogger kegn_15, at 11:45 PM  

  • i still think that clown dolls are the creepiest things out there...

    By Blogger Unknown, at 8:59 AM  

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