"Poor things"

Rating: 7/10 (29 December 2010)

An unusual picture this, one of the earliest examples of animal horror, and the only Alfred Hitchcock film with supernatural elements. Still, atypical as its subject matter is, the business of building up tension and thrilling the audience was by now simply a case of going through the motions for Master of Suspense Hitchcock.
The line between horror and thriller was always vague in Hitch's work, since while most of his pictures are generally categorised as the latter, they always work upon scaring and unsettling the viewer. It is unsurprising then that despite the mysterious nature of the bird attacks the director still uses many of the same techniques as he would to build up suspense over a murderer on the prowl. There's usually a period of silence, or at least without dialogue in the build-up to each attack – this is in contrast to the extended scenes of discussion after the tension of a bird attack has been diffused. There's one scene where Veronica Cartwright is distraught after an attack, but she remains silent while there is still danger around, beginning to talk only once they are safe in the car. This switching between normal human chatter and eerie silence or bird noises is really effective in the pacing of the movie. There's also a great use of space, for example in the famous scene with the crows outside the school. There's a shot of Tippi Hedren with the jungle gym, as yet empty, behind her. The empty space is conspicuously against normal cinematic convention and we expect something to fill it. Later on we start to become nervous and suspicious of every empty spot as a potential source of attack.
An honourable mention should also go to the amazing process shots devised by Ub Iwerks, the original and unsung genius of the Disney studios. His trickery with the layers of birds effect is more or less seamless in credibility, unlike the rather clunky-looking bluescreen shots that Hitchcock seriously overuses here.
Evan Hunter's screenplay structures the bird war phenomenon around a story of love and jealousy, and if this is to work as a proper counterpoint then there need to be some decent acting performances amongst all the special effects and suspenseful technique. Although his is not often referenced, I feel the best performance here is that of Rod Taylor. He seems to react most plausibly the birds, giving a portrayal of a man who acts best under pressure. Suzanne Pleshette is very good too, subtly showing the audience her hidden thoughts on the situation between Taylor and Hedren. Jessica Tandy does a fine job as well, although unfortunately in her best scene (where she tells Hedren about her late husband) she is shot from a rather aloof angle and she isn't really shown to her advantage – perhaps because Hitch didn't want to unbalance the bird war theme by getting too maudlin at this point.
And to be honest, the human side of the story could have done with some more work. The way Taylor and Hedren are initially set up does not make them especially likable, and in many ways seems a little far-fetched, in basically what amounts to stalking, with friendly locals all willing to give away someone's details to a complete stranger. And while the build-up to individual bird attacks is masterful, the bird war as a whole peaks too early, and there are some disappointments later in the picture. The Birds has a great idea at its heart and some fabulous individual moments, but this isn't enough. All in all, it's a technical picture, not a good piece of storytelling.