Dark, Large, and fundamentally Hitchcokian.

Rating: 10/10 (6 June 2013)

Continuing with his Birds and Mothers themes carried over from his previous movie "Psycho", Hitchcock went all out for what is one of his goriest, and most disturbing films. He combined the visceral violence of "Psycho" with the large set pieces of "North by Northwest" creating a paranoid and frantic thriller, which successfully turns a mundane creature into a frightening nightmare.
The Story starts, as many Hitchcock films before it, with the introduction of a young blonde woman. Although Tippi Hendren was a poor replacement for Grace Kelly, she performs adequately in the role of an initially shallow young woman. Much has been said of Hitchcock's treatment of hair during production, and Hendren herself has made some particularly libelous statements. But whatever he did, it managed to illicit of truly fearful performance during the more integral moments of the film.
The Bird motif is established early on, as the first scene takes place in a Bird Shop where they're all caged and harmless, a condition which evidently changes as the film goes on. As the woman decides to pursue a man, a drama story is established, as she contends with his mother and integrates herself with his family and the town of Bodega Bay. Alongside this is the increasing intensity of Bird attacks, until eventually the focus of the story shifts to this in the final act. The slow and meticulous unraveling of the story not only allows for Hitchcock to drum up suspense, it also means that when the characters are under the most extreme threat we have spent a lot of time with them, and know them inside and out. This means that we feel every hit that they take, as well as making us more fearful for them.
The choice of Hitchcock to not use a traditional soundtrack, despite having Bernard Herman at his disposal, was an inspired one. The cawing of the Birds is a grating and piercing noise, and is more relevant to the content of the film than a traditional horror score. The film looks beautiful, the camera captures the picturesque nature of the setting perfectly,and it is filled with strong primary colours. These 2 things make it a major departure from "Psycho" and shows what a pioneering and innovative director Hitchcock was, always looking to change and challenge himself, while still employing his tried and tested techniques of drumming up tension and suspense.
This is an excellent thriller, and you'll likely never look at Birds the same way again.