Hitchcock's Last Great Film

Rating: 9/10 (17 July 2016)

Hitchcock never limited himself. He stuck mostly to the thriller genre but his films always blended varying styles and themes. The Birds is his venture into pure horror, an area that he'd touched on previously but never fully dived into. It's him taking the atmosphere that runs through many of his mysteries and combing it with imagery and ideas that succeed in being as macabre as possible. The whole idea behind the film is preposterous, yet it is clear that the whole point is using it to create as frightening a spectacle as possible and that is something the master of suspense achieves.
The set-up involves wealthy Californian socialite Melanie Daniels journeying to Bodega Bay in order to woo lawyer and bachelor Mitch Brenner, after he makes a thinly veiled invite to her. She meets his icy mother and cheerful little sister, the local school teacher and the townspeople all seem nice enough so she decides to stay for the weekend. Of course this is part of the film's genius, everything moves along smoothly and seems pleasant for most of the first half, creating a sense of ease on the surface that you know is just waiting to be torn apart. Tippi Hedren puts in a very good performance, far greater than she would later do in 'Marnie' where she appeared to be suffocated by the complexities of the material. She is clearly at her best when she can play to her naturally warm and charming personality, which are traits she aptly passes on to Melanie.
Something more sinister starts to form when large groups of birds begin attacking and killing the locals at random with no reasoning, leaving the entire town stranded, confused and defenceless against further attacks. It's a true testament to Hitchcock's genius that he was able to make a species as seemingly harmless as birds appear to be the most vicious and terrifying out there. He does what he is so good at, building unease and dread slowly out of seemingly ordinary situations. It would be nowhere near as scary if it wasn't for the deliberately paced build-up. The film is surprisingly brutal and visceral even for modern day. There's no shortage of people cut or sliced as a result of the attacks. The scene where the farmer's body is discovered is truly horrifying. Even the bleak ending, something Hitchcock was no stranger to, feels much darker than usual.
The characters present here are so enjoyable and distinctly drawn that you could lose the entire birds gone wild aspect and it would still be an interesting watch. The suave Mitch (played smoothly by the ideal Hitchcock leading man Rod Taylor), his distant mother Lydia, the sharp school teacher Annie Hayworth, the crotchety old ornithologist, they are all sharply defined and engaging presences. It's something that Hitchcock also did to great effect in his previous film 'Psycho', he gave us characters that we gain some kind of connection to so that when the terror begins we feel invested in what's at stake. There's plenty of smartly handled scenes that establish details about their personalities and moods, such as a nicely emotive one that explains Lydia's coldness. Hitchcock has paced the film perfectly, there isn't a second that is boring or uninteresting to watch.
The effects are understandably dated, but still rather impressive for how much creativity was used in making it look like a massive flock of birds was causing so much destruction. All kinds of techniques were used and most of them blend together effectively. If anything it is simply guilty of showing too much ambition for the time period. What is notable is that the film contains no score, regular collaborator Bernard Herrmann is noted as 'sound consultant', and that is an interesting stylistic choice. The film appreciates the strength of silence and uses it fantastically. How unease can be crafted because everything appears to be too quiet. There is a potency with in that which the film taps in to. It also means that the piercing squawks that emerge once the birds attack are all the more startling.
For me personally this is Hitchcock's last truly great film. One where the story, the writing, the acting, the scares and the direction all came together to create something both spectacular and memorable. None of his films that followed ever reached the same heights, whether it was because one of these areas was dealt with poorly or a multitude of them were. Here Hitchcock knew better than anyone that there has to be a story and set of people that we feel invested in for the film to truly work. As a result this film is a masterpiece in how to gradually build tension and craft horror that packs a punch. When the scares come along they work outstandingly, partly because of the gruesome imagery but also because we're invested in the story.