"Don't they ever stop migrating?!"

Rating: 8/10 (24 June 2017)

THE BIRDS is a mysterious horror drama about an inexplicable conflict between the innocent creatures and the greatest enemy of nature. It is loosely based on the 1952 story of the same name by Daphne du Maurier.
The main protagonist is a young woman, who is known for compacting inappropriate jokes and misbehavior in public. One day, she meets a charming lawyer in a San Francisco bird shop. He wants to purchase a pair of lovebirds for his sister's eleventh birthday, but the shop has none. He had seen her in court once before when her recklessness resulted in the breaking of a plate glass window, but she does not know him. He plays a prank by pretending to mistake her for a salesperson. After his departure, she becomes curious and decides to know him better. She finds his weekend address in Bodega Bay, purchases a pair of lovebirds, and makes the long drive to deliver them. The two of them meet again. However, something else is in the air ...
Mr. Hitchcock has replaced his traditional tense story with an extreme mystery. He has, through a bizarre apocalyptic atmosphere, a frivolous romance and an idyllic life philosophy, made a symbolic game of destruction. His allegory, in which good and evil are a sort of metaphor, is excellent. The story is intriguing and unfortunately average, but the direction is very good.
Hitch plays with visual effects and sound elements. He constantly enhances his horror, through scenes of massacred bodies, explosions and hysteria. The protagonists are constantly exposed to danger and none of them are safe. The fear has changed their character. A psychological or just logical explanation, that is cause of animal attacks, is absent.
Characterization is good, while the performances is a bit wooden.
Tippi Hedren as Melanie Daniels is a beautiful and dangerous blonde. She is the main carrier of a danger and reason at the same time. She is an exotic phenomenon in an idyllic landscape. The term "heroine" is perhaps too strong, but her performance indicates that notion. Rod Taylor as Mitchell "Mitch" Brenner is her support and better segment of their romance. His character is torn by three women. Jessica Tandy as Lydia Brenner is confused, lost and frightened in a complex role of a mother. Suzanne Pleshette as Annie Hayworth is a bit sinister and jealous as an ex-girlfriend, but her performance is the most realistic in this movie.
Maestro has offered a bit "malicious" end.