The Birds

Hitchcock's classic is not ageless, rather the opposite. Each time you watch it, you can see how it is falling apart and losing out, leaving a few really masterful scenes and a lot of conversational improvisation that fades out into nothingness. But two things still keeps The Birds afloat – the director's unique talent for suspense, composition and sensitive "staring" and the fact that this film was quite possibly one of the best horrors in the first and later flurry of animal killers. Unlike the real Hitchcockian peaks, however, the film visibly loses breath and gains more awkwardness and boredom over the years. The master simply has brighter films that don't fade. (20/12/2004)

A legendary film directed by the master of tension Alfred Hitchcock, based on the story of the same name by writer Daphne Du Maurier. The story is, by the way, less spectacular but stylistically more sophisticated and, above all, significantly more hopeless than Hitchcock's much more famous film. Its ending is the embodiment of helplessness and despair. Fans of film art will likely appreciate Hitchcock's traditional professionalism in creating the atmosphere of the film, visual composition, gradual development of the characters, and above all, working with the feathered "actors." Tension, although built as is customary for the director, through mere unsettling hints and film dialogues, truly radiates from this film, and after the release of The Birds in American movie theaters, many attacks were recorded by enraged viewers on birds. It is Hitchcock's second most famous work alongside Psycho - both films were shown shortly after they were made in Eastern European countries behind the Iron Curtain. Knowledge of this film is essential for film enthusiasts. Overall impression: 90%. (05/01/2008)

I really like Hitchcock, but I never understood the enthusiasm around this film by the Master of Suspense. It's not one of his worst, but there are plenty (read dozens) of much better films in his oeuvre. The big problem is that technically it has become somewhat outdated - which wouldn't matter if it had an atmosphere to disguise it. Unfortunately, there is not a shred of it in The Birds; and in its essence, it is almost offensive to the ingenious chamber atmospheric original story (yes, I adore Daphne). And thus even the infinitely charming Tippi Hedren cannot save it. (12/01/2007)

The Birds is an absorbing character study with beautiful color composition, a masterfully built atmosphere and hypnotically captivating fluidity of the action. At first glance, it is “only” a wonderful-looking commercial supernatural horror movie, but on closer inspection, it is a work of art with a poignant existential subtext. With the passage of time, it has become a cinematic gem. (24/11/2004)

The first half is a very, very long exposition. Hitch tries to gradually build up the tension, but the result is a bit boring with all the unnecessarily long dialogues that don't move the plot anywhere. But the second half is a different story. A terrifying, omnipresent threat from an unusual enemy, brilliantly filmed. So, the overall result is very good. BTW: The short story is still better :) (13/04/2003)