The final scene of thousands of birds watching Brenner’s family and Daniels driving away was quite chilling, though it was unfulfilling to some viewers like me. I found the ending ambiguous, leaving me hanging and wanting more of the movie. It was probably because of the absence of an explanation regarding the cause of the birds’ infrequent and impulsive behavior. I admit that I wanted to see a scene where someone with a shotgun go after these birds or all the survivor residents of Bodega Bay would unite and create a vicious act to eliminate the feathered villains. I was anticipating a war between the birds and humanity and I wouldn’t care who won as long as I got to see the carnage. I may be disposed to accept that the climax has happened and the birds prevailed, but I sort of wanted a denouement that showed a resulting battle or an expected aftermath. Hitchcock provides no rationale for the strange and violent events that have occurred. The obscurity of some happenings as well as my curiosity induced me to search for the movie’s storyline and its production. I then found out that a strange real-life attack by sooty shearwaters on Capitola, California in 1961, believed to have occurred because of diatom poisoning of anchovies digested by the birds, causing extreme aggressiveness, was researched by Hitchcock in preparation for the film.
Still, I was baffled when I attempted to interpret the film on a literal level and compare it against other typical disaster/horror films of its kind. I kept questioning myself: Why did the strange attacks occur? And out of all the places, they seemed to be concentrated in a certain area. In the movie, there was no solid explanation for why the birds were attacking, particularly in Bodega Bay. This compelled me to firstly assume that Hitchcock intended this picture of how an immense plague of birds almost wrecked a peaceful community to be symbolic of how the world might be destroyed by a sudden disorder of a system’s component, or whether he meant the birds to depict the apocalyptic indignation that was supposed to seek revenge for nature mistreatment, represent God’s punishment for mankind’s evil or foreshadow doomsday.
But, I found my interpretation quite implausible. I thought that the film could be given a clearer and more sensible viewpoint through profound scrutiny. I was certain that the film, giving a vague conclusion, had something more to reflect on rather than to complain about its indistinctiveness. I was wrong, in the first place, for basing the entire theme of the film in its title, for it was evident that the subject matter was the people and not the birds. The context of the birds fixating their fury upon a house in which a possessive and jealous mother hovers agitatedly over her son was so apparent. I would say that the birds and the women in Mitch’s life were parallel with each other. Each was flocking around and competing for attention and affection from the remote, frigid male lead, and the pressure and fragile relations between them were visible enough. Melanie resentfully conveyed that she was abandoned by her mother while Lydia feels abandoned by her dead husband Frank. These could be considered factors why both women were ready to fight for Mitch. The onslaught of seemingly arbitrary and chaotic attacks was related to the mother and son relationship in the film – anger, jealousy, and fear of abandonment, embodying Lydia’s maternal possessiveness. Figuratively, the birds could also be a physical manifestation of forces that threaten humanity when human relationships become tenuous and afflicting. I also observed that the scene in the beginning part of the movie where Melanie accidentally releases a bird outside its cage might be a foreshadowing of the unleashing of birds later in the film. Also, I found the hysterical woman in the restaurant, who accused Melanie of the cause of the sudden misfortune, reasonable and convincing. Chaos and mishaps indeed dominated the series of events, but it was quite a relief to see a surge of tranquility and security in the end, though I almost found it absurd at first.
I would consider the cast appropriate and effective for this melodramatic purpose. Tippi Hedren (Melanie Daniels) was a pretty, urbane, and sophisticated disruptive girl who seemed to be always in control. Rod Taylor (Mitch Brenner) was impassive and sturdy as the mother-smothered son. Jessica Tandy (Lydia Brenner) was fretful as the mother who always felt incomplete, and earthy Suzanne Pleshette (Annie Hayworth) was pleasing but vaguely ominous as the old girlfriend. The artists were able to portray and internalize their roles well and succeed in creating such connections with each other. I could easily read their emotions and feel the tension they were trying to establish, especially in scenes where Melanie and Annie met each other and the time they were staying under the same roof. Anxiety and suspicion were always present around the subject of their shared interest.
In terms of the soundtrack, Hitchcock used electronic sounds instead of a musical score to produce simulated bird cries and wing flaps. I observed that he made use of sound effects frequently and sparse source or background music which kind of lessened the suspense generated by the film. The calculated silences may produce a dull effect, but make the scenes less predictable, thus heightening the curiosity of the viewers. The special effects shots of the attacking birds were quite surprising since hundreds of birds (gulls, ravens, and crows) were trained for use in some of the scenes, though mechanical birds and animations were employed for others. Hitchcock’s mastery of the technical means was essential in building and maintaining suspense. The film used innovative camera viewpoints and movements, elaborate editing techniques, and effective soundtrack music.
Although equipped with less morbidity compared to most horror suspense films, its inexplicable and appalling scenes were capable of causing shock and chills. Hitchcock successfully turned birds into some of the most terrifying and unanticipated villains in horror history. The film managed to evoke nature’s menace and create great impact while maintaining its subtlety and believability.
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