When you think of birds in the movies, this image probably comes to mind:
Tippi Hedren in Alfred Hitchock’s “The Birds” (1963). Don’t even get me started on why they chose to run out of the school when the birds started congregating on the jungle gym. Stay inside! I like to think that the birds attacked the children because they were singing that annoying song.
Alfred Hitchock’s 1963 masterpiece, The Birds, tells the story of Bodega Bay, a small town near San Francisco, California that is dealing with violent and random bird attacks. Crows are inexplicably attacking people in their homes, in phone booths, outside, anywhere. The film never explains why the birds are attacking. Hitchock purposely eschewed the use of music in the film. The only sounds we hear aside from dialogue and natural sounds from the actions in the film are the sounds of the birds crowing. Each time the birds appear onscreen, we know that another attack is about to happen. The film ends with no resolution. In Bodega Bay, the birds are still out there and are to be feared.
In The Birds, there are two birds featured in the film who are not to be feared–the lovebirds that Rob Taylor wants to purchase from Tippi Hedren (who doesn’t actually work at the bird shop, but is shopping for a cage for her myna bird). People who own lovebirds typically purchase them in pairs, as a pair of lovebirds will bond for life. A solitary lovebird who doesn’t have a constant companion will be very sad. Owners can own just one lovebird, but they should be prepared to spend a lot of time with their bird. In The Birds, I believe that these lovebirds represent Taylor and Hedren’s characters.
Hedren’s character is a bit of a wild woman who somewhat lives in a gilded cage. She’s basically a rich socialite with little regard for others. Due to her behavior and attitude, she’s somewhat trapped by her lifestyle. The only reason she goes to Bodega Bay initially, is to use the lovebirds as a means to pursue Taylor. She’s rich and isn’t used to not getting what she wants. Taylor makes it clear to Hedren in the pet shop that she’s not interested in people of her type.
Lovebirds may represent the antithesis to the other birds in the film. Birds don’t have to be evil or be killers–they can be sweet, wonderful companions for humans and other birds. The lovebirds in The Birds demonstrate that maybe humanity and nature can restore harmony soon.
The lovebirds in “The Birds.” I believe these are “rosy-faced lovebirds.”
Aside from the birds in The Birds, there are other ways birds are represented in film:
COMPANIONS
Iago the Scarlet Macaw parrot in Aladdin, while an evil bird, he is a wiseacre and says what’s on his mind regardless of whether he’s talking to his master, Jafar, or mocking the Sultan.
Kevin in Up is a goofy bird and the comic relief of the film. Kevin is a made-up tropical bird who helps Carl and Russell make it to Victoria Falls. Kevin also provides the conflict of the film. Famed aviator Charles Muntz has been looking for Kevin’s species for years. Kevin is like many real birds in that when she (yes “she”) feels that someone is a friend, she will be kind and loyal. However, if she senses someone is a threat, or that person was mean to her, she’ll be hostile and combative. Also, like real birds, Kevin is very curious and gets into everything.
Hedwig in the Harry Potter series is Harry Potter’s loyal owl. She is a constant companion for Harry through all of his adventures. She would deliver Harry’s mail, but was also a faithful friend. Hedwig also demonstrated how smart and clever birds can be.
Zazu in The Lion King. Zazu is a hornbill who is not only Mufasa’s personal assistant and adviser, but he also takes care of Simba after Mufasa’s tragic death. Zazu’s allegiance is partially out of duty to the kingdom, but I also feel that he feels a sense of loyalty to the deceased Mufasa. Zazu also doesn’t want to see Scar in charge.
Maleficent’s black crow, who I don’t believe has a name, is as evil as evil gets. He keeps Maleficent informed on the goings on in the fairies’ cottage and is the first one to inform Maleficent of Princess Aurora’s location when he spies magic coming up through the fairies’ chimney.
Iago from “Aladdin” (1992)
WISDOM
Owl in Winnie the Pooh dispenses advise to Winnie the Pooh and the other residents of the Hundred Acre Woods.
Scuttle in The Little Mermaid, while definitely not smart like Owl, he lives above the sea and regularly watches and interacts with the humans. Mermaid Ariel, who desperately wants to live out of the sea meets up with Scuttle, often bringing objects from the ocean floor that she has found. She asks Scuttle as to what the objects are. While Scuttle is usually wrong (e.g. telling Ariel that a dinner fork is a “dinglehopper” and is used to comb her hair), he is very kind and tries to keep Ariel informed about what’s going on above the sea.
“Owl” from “The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh” (1977)
SYMBOLISM
In The Maltese Falcon (1941) John Huston’s directorial debut and the first film noir, stars Humphrey Bogart as Sam Spade. While investigating the murder of his partner, Miles Archer, Bogart gets involved with a cast of characters who not only have something to do with Archer’s death, but who are searching for the elusive Maltese Falcon statue. This bejeweled statue has traveled the world and is apparently worth tens of thousands of dollars. When the statue is finally found, it is determined to be a fake. The criminals are angry and frustrated, but seek to continue looking for it. While holding the fake statue, a detective asks Bogart, “Heavy? What is it?” Bogart says, “The, uh, stuff that dreams are made of.” This faux bird represents the lack of loyalty the criminals displayed to one another during their journey. A bird, when treated with love and kindness, can be a loyal and generous friend. They’ll be by your side constantly and will give affection. They’ll also give you their dinner if you don’t pay attention, they want to make sure you eat. The criminals are so shady in this film, that they don’t deserve to succeed at the end.
There is much bird imagery in Psycho. It is mostly used in the scene between Norman (Anthony Perkins) and Marion (Janet Leigh) in the motel office. The birds in these scenes foreshadow Norman’s psyche and Marion’s eventual fate. Norman has a variety of stuffed birds: everything from the predator hawk to a small songbird. Norman mentions to Marion Crane (his eventual victim) that one of his hobbies is “stuffing things” i.e. taxidermy. This foreshadows the fact that he’s been perhaps practicing his taxidermy skills elsewhere, like on his mother’s corpse, for example (granted she is a skeleton, but he’s been preserving her). The birds are creepy as there are a lot of them. One could argue that the different types of birds are representative of the characters in the film. There is an owl and hawk, two predator birds, that are featured prominently on the wall. Norman’s mother is a predator, her personality has completely consumed Norman’s. There are also some small songbirds who represent Marion. These birds would be consumed in no second flat by a predator, just like it doesn’t take long for Marion’s demise at the Bates Motel. Birds are very fragile, just like Norman Bates’ psyche. Women are often presented as fragile and delicate, in which a bird could represent Marion. Norman even tells Marion that she “eats like a bird” as she picks at the bread on her sandwich. Birds actually eat a lot, a fact which Norman even mentions to Marion. There is so much going on in this scene that it would probably warrant its own blog entry.
Birds can also represent a variety of other themes: freedom, the feeling of being trapped, evil, arrogance, and mischievousness.
Norman Bates’ office in the Bates Motel in “Psycho” (1960)
Other favorite birds of mine:
Donald Duck. Look for him in Donald Duck in Mathmagic Land(1959). Perhaps the only good math-related movie ever made.
Daffy Duck. His “Duck Amuck” (1953) cartoon is hilarious.
Woodstock from Peanuts. He doesn’t do much except be Snoopy’s companion, but he has his moments.
Roadrunner. He says so much by saying so little “beep beep” which roughly translates to “ha ha” when said to Wile E. Coyote after successfully evading yet another trap. Why does Wile E. Coyote want to eat him so much anyway? I doubt he’s got that much meat on him.
Piper from the Pixar short. This bird is just so cute!
Piper from Piper (2016) Pixar’s short film. Look at his face!
This post was inspired by my bird, Buddy, a yellow-sided green cheek conure:
I apologize for being so lax on my blogathon entries. I over-committed and apparently cannot sign up for every blogathon during end of the quarter time at work. We were very busy during the month of May and frankly, I just didn’t have the ambition to write anything after getting home. I’m trying to get back on track, because I do enjoy watching movies and writing about them and sharing my love of movies with everyone. I should hopefully have some more time.
Lately, I’ve been catching up with Ewan McGregor, who I’ve proclaimed as my new Scottish boyfriend. I realize that he isn’t a classic movie star, but I enjoy movies of all kind–not just classic film. Classic film is my favorite, but I do watch newer films as well. Anyway, a film that I just recently discovered and found completely enjoyable is Down With Love.
Down With Love, while a film from 2003, is an homage to the classic Doris Day/Rock Hudson sex farces of the late 1950s-early 1960s. Pillow Talk, in particular, shares many similarities with this pastiche film. The film takes place in 1962 Manhattan. The film has a very stylized appearance with numerous tongue in cheek jokes and corny dialogue that was present in the rom-coms of yore. The costumes and sets are colorful and gorgeous. Renee Zellweger’s apartment is hilarious and very 1960s. There is also lots of innuendo which is always delightful. Especially in this film, as the innuendo is pretty racy, but not crass. A funny scene involves McGregor’s new secretary, Sally, overhearing a conversation between McGregor and his boss. They’re discussing the newest innovation in men’s socks (no need for sock garters!), but without being in the room, Sally assumes that they are comparing the size of each other’s “manhood,” with McGregor coming out well ahead (“16 inches!” “And don’t forget, I have two of them”).
Just one of many split screens in Down With Love
In Down With Love, Zellweger plays Barbara Novak, a feminist writer who writes the best-selling non fiction book, Down With Love. The book is a sensation and soon every woman on the planet is engrossed in it and adopting its philosophy. Down With Love tells women that they don’t need to fall in love with a man and assume a life of domestic servitude. Women, like men, can have a fulfilling career, social life and have meaningless sex. They don’t have to have a man around to be happy. A love of chocolate can be substituted for a man if they wish. The main thing that the men of the world dislike about Zellweger’s book is that it promotes an independent life for women.
McGregor’s character, Catcher Block, is a star reporter at Know Magazine For Men, is assigned to write a story on Zellweger’s book. McGregor is a playboy, “a ladies man, a man’s man, a man about town.” At first, he is completely against the idea, because he finds the idea of her book dumb and boring. However, he has a change of heart when he finds out that he’s losing dates because they have embraced Zellweger’s idea that women don’t need men. McGregor decides that he’ll write an exposé about Zellweger, exposing her for what he feels are her true feelings, based on his assumption that all women really want love and marriage.
Just one stop on a parade of hot night spots that McGregor as “Zip” and Zellweger visit
To bait Zellweger into admitting that she really wants love and not just meaningless sex (so he has fodder for his article), he arranges for a chance meeting at a dry cleaner, knowing that she’s only heard his voice, but doesn’t know what he looks like. He puts on a pair of glasses and poses as Major Zip Martin, a kind and naive astronaut from the South who is content on remaining chaste until he feels ready for a physical relationship. Essentially Zellweger and McGregor are working toward opposite goals (opposite from their own and from each other’s). Zellweger grows frustrated that McGregor won’t have sex with her and McGregor is enjoying frustrating her until he finds himself falling for her and suddenly his plan becomes frustrating for him as well (emotionally and physically). One particularly funny scene involving McGregor’s frustration (more physical, than anything else) is where after a particularly hot first kiss, he has to literally cool himself off by dumping a champagne bucket full of ice water on top of his head. In fact, there are a lot of sexy kissing scenes in this movie. It definitely helps that McGregor is so cute. Lol.
Ewan McGregor as Catcher Block, “a ladies man, a man’s man, man about town.”
There is considerable sexual tension between Zellweger and McGregor’s characters throughout the entire film. They have great chemistry with one another and are very adept at bringing their respective personas to the screen. Zellweger’s Doris Day-esque character is not as squeaky clean as Day’s characters, such as when Zellweger is trying to outright ask McGregor (as “Zip”) to go home with her, after having literally just met him ten minutes earlier in the dry cleaner. McGregor, in a very unusual role for him (no nudity for one, lol), is excellent as the European playboy. Even his faux Southern accent is adorable and hilarious. He is very charming and you can see how so many women succumb to his charms. He also displays excellent comedic timing (which was also present in Moulin Rouge! to some extent).
David Hyde Pierce lends support as McGregor’s boss and best friend, Peter. Pierce is essentially his Niles Crane (from Frasier) persona here, unlucky in love and neurotic. He pines over Sarah Paulson, who plays Vicky, Zellweger’s editor and best friend. Pierce and Paulson have a subplot where their two characters try to get together while at the same time, supporting their respective friends in their relationship. Of course, Pierce is aware of McGregor’s deception in his relationship with Zellweger. Pierce and Paulson also provide much of the humor of the film, as they get all the hilarious one liners that are ubiquitous in the world of “the best friend” in the Doris Day/Rock Hudson comedies. Pierce and Paulson are essentially the male and female versions of the Tony Randall character who provided support in all three Day/Hudson features.
Speaking of Randall… He shows up in a very funny segment in the film where be bemoans the success of Down With Love because it’s affecting his relationship with his mistress.
A very funny scene toward the beginning of the film where Sarah Paulson and Renee Zellweger show off their fashionable wares. The best parts about these scenes, aside from the dramatic way they remove their coats, is the music.
Down With Love didn’t do well upon its initial theatrical release. I believe it only barely turned a profit. This film is greatly underrated and perhaps may have been overlooked when it was new, because audiences didn’t know what to make of this pastiche film that pays tribute to the 1950s-1960s sex farces. Perhaps if this had come out a few years later when Mad Men came out, it may have done better. I only found out about and watched this film less than a month ago, and I won’t even share how many times I’ve watched it since then. I originally borrowed it from the library and have since procured my own copy. I may have watched it two times in a row today while I wrote this blog entry.
Up with Down With Love!
PS: Watch the beginning of the ending credits of the film. You won’t regret it. Unless you dislike cheesy 1960s inspired lounge music numbers, then… I don’t think we have anything else to discuss.
This film is just plain fun. And really, in the end of the day, that’s really all that matters.
Whimsically Classic 