The Birds
Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock
starring: Tippi Hedren, Rod Taylor and Suzanne Pleshette
Emanuel Levy gives the Birds a very in depth and positive review. This review is structured in a way where he gives you an overview of the movie itself, and then goes on to explain the meaning of it. He also speaks about other movies Hitchcock had made that had similar topics in them. For example, he references Shadow of a Doubt and says they are connected because they both focus on the "fragility of our supposedly ordered world."
Levy seems to focus more on the plot more than the actors or things of that nature. He describes the film in detail and explains what point Hitchcock was trying to get across. He says that this movie is a mix of romance and horror-action.
The Variety staff gives this film a rather harsh critique. They mention that the idea of birds randomly swooping down at people was unclear. Also, they talk about how the love story involved in the film is unnecessary and left unfinished. They do talk about how the premise is very intriguing and how well Hitchcock crafted it, but they say that dramatically it falls flat.
Having seen this film I would agree form Emanuel's review that, "The birds represent the unpredictable and arbitrary element of life, the unacknowledged invisible forces of destruction, that cannot be explained or controlled with rational reasoning or commonsense." I agree with this statement because while watching this film I was anticipating the birds attacking and seeing what would happen. After watching the film a couple times I noticed the meaning behind it, that it related to the spontaneity of life. I understood the hidden meaning behind this film, it wasn't just a thriller film it was portraying an aspect of life that we rarely think about.
Even though I enjoyed this film for the most part, I did agree with the Variety staff on one thing. "An unnecessary elaborate romantic plot has been cooked up and then left suspended." I agree with this statement because throughout the whole film there is this underlying love relationship and in the end nothing comes of it. The main purpose I wanted to see this movie was for the thrilling aspect of it, not some random love triangle.
If I had never seen this film or was thinking about seeing it, I would most definitely say that Emanuel Levy's was more convincing. Specifically, the attention to detail he has to the hidden messages in the movie. Also, the elaborate explanations of the plot that he says would make me want to go see it. Overall, I would trust him over the Variety staff because of the details he has, his language and his enthusiasm about the movie itself.
When writing a film review I think it is extremely important to talk about 4 things. The plot, the characters (actors),the message and the targeted demographic. I would not want to give the story away in my review, but I would like to give the people an idea of what they will see and give them some background. The actors can sometimes make or break a film and that is why I think they must be included in a review. Also, the main message of the film, why did they make this film? What did they want people to think about while watching it? And lastly, the targeted demographic is important also because if you are reading a review to determine whether or not you see this movie, you probably want to know if it was geared towards your demographic, if not you might not enjoy it as much.
