The Birds

The Birds Literary Elements

Director

Alfred Hitchcock

Leading Actors/Actresses

Tippi Hedren, Rod Taylor

Supporting Actors/Actresses

Jessica Tandy, Suzanne Pleshette

Genre

Suspense thriller

Language

English

Awards

Academy Aeard Nomination: Best Special Visual Effects

Date of Release

1963

Producer

Alfred Hitchcock

Setting and Context

Small California fishing village in the late 1950s/early 1960s

Narrator and Point of View

The perspective is mostly Melanie Daniels'

Tone and Mood

Threatening and suspenseful, disturbing, menacing

Protagonist and Antagonist

The humans are the protagonists and the birds the antagonists

Major Conflict

The major conflict is between the birds that try to kill the people, and the people as they struggle to survive. There is also conflict between Lydia Brenner and Melanie Daniels, chiefly over Mitch; Lydia is a dominant maternal figure in the mold of Mrs Bates in Psycho and their conflict lies in Lydia's determination to prevent anything developing between Melanie and her son.

Climax

The final overpowering of the village by the birds is the film's climax

Foreshadowing

The small groups of birds that gather in slowly increasing numbers foreshadow the full-blown invasion and takeover that follows

Understatement

A good example of understatement is when Melanie remarks that the behavior of the birds is unusual

Innovations in Filming or Lighting or Camera Techniques

There were innovations in special visual effects and there were over 300 one-off individual shots capturing the birds. The most innovative technique Hitchcock employed was the introduction of abrasive and taut music that was written with the intent of grating on the viewer's nerves

Allusions

The movie alludes to the original Daphne du Maurier novel in the invasion of the birds in a gothic horror style. It may also allude the threat of nuclear attack.

Paradox

The lack of explanation of the birds' behavior and their objective is a paradox because it makes the movie far more disturbing than it would have been had there been an explanation.

Parallelism

No specific examples in the movie

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