The Birds- More Confusion than Horror
Hitchcock is a director who is often distinguished as one of the greatest auteurs of all time, his films are masterful in their use of suspense and pacing. Although The Birds is known as one of the scariest films ever, as a modern audience it feels less scary and more bewildering. It comes from a different age, a film that must have been revolutionary, but retrospection is an important thing and it doesn't hold up as successfully nowadays.
Similar to Psycho, The Birds is split into two parts, setting up an A Plot and then swiftly turning direction in the second half. However, Psycho manages to engage and intrigue in its opening and surprise the audience. The opening plot is simply a sequence of events that occur with no real through-line, the main character played by Tippi Hedren has a weird unexplained objective that is just a means to get her to a certain place for the action to begin. It’s a directionless sequence that confuses the audience and could have been used much better to introduce certain themes and ideas. That's the thing, I have tried to look for extended meaning behind this film, but it seems to be pretty thin, there are suggestions at ideas here and there, but they don't have the required build up or explanation. Of course, this is completely subjective, some people may be able to get a lot out of it, but I struggled immensely due to the opening sequence having no real weight to the film as a whole.
The Birds is a typical Hitchcockian thriller, and when he leans into this, the film is at its most enjoyable. There are some incredible moments of tension that are genuinely paced really well and are impactful on the audience, in particular, the iconic playground scene. There is a tendency to dismiss a film due to how it has aged, the effects are obviously bad from a modern-day perspective but the structuring of the scenes with these effects damage the pacing and effect. The actual action scenes go on for too long, without enough variety so the effects become noticeable and all the fantastic tension is lost. It is such a shame because there are some fantastic ideas for set pieces, but as soon as the chaos begins there is a lack of action beats that are engaging and move the scene along. The overall pacing is very slow, but it just results in dead air where there should be character development occurring, I wish it had taken more time to flesh out these characters and their relationships. A lot of the suspense is lost due to the sheer amount of contrivances in the plot which makes it incoherent and less engaging.
The performances are all really strong, but their characters are paper thin. With what he is given, James Mason puts on an admirable performance as he plays the confident and defiant hero. The supporting cast is weirdly the strongest part with some really odd overacted performances actually making really entertaining moments and fun characters that work in short bursts.
Effects aside, the film is shot very well with a lot of quite artistic shots that remain iconic, even the scenes with a lot happening still remain well shot for the most part. The cinematography does have a consistency to not be very ambitious, every scene is only shot with the essential parts, only focusing on the action rather than taking more interesting risks artistically. And the fantastic colour scheme works with the costumes and set dressing being so distinct but I wish there was a thematic and conceptual link between the excellent colour in the mise-en-scene. The sound design isn’t as strong as the other technical elements as it is repetitive, with moments of loud chaos and then silence without much experiment and originality. I was in many ways disappointed with The Birds due to its iconic stature but in the end, I was misled as it turned out to be a paper-thin typical horror film.
North by Northwest- Fast Paced, Fun and Frustrating
There is something inherently weird and confusing about ‘North by Northwest’, there is this overall lack of focus or direction that makes it fun in a bewildering way. The plot is ridiculously paced, as it is simply a series of events happening with a constant acceleration and lack of clarity. I had a lot of fun with the film, I don’t think it’s an outstanding film, but viewing it is an experience that is so insane it feels more enjoyable than it should be.
Roger Thornhill (Cary Grant) is a businessman that after being mistaken for someone else is catapulted into a world of espionage deep in the midst of the Cold War. Grant is fantastic, he immediately signifies with the audience due to his sheer confusion during the plot. He approaches every situation with this frustration mixed with curiosity, to the point where he evolves into a full-blown action hero. His performance, obviously encouraged by excellent direction, is never repetitive or boring, it is however sometimes hard to keep track of and sometimes his actions are left unexplained and unmotivated. The weakest part of this film is definitely Eva Marie Saint as Eva Kendall, but that is by no fault of her own but more the fact it’s not aged well. She lacks agency and is treated completely objectively, she is a motivator to most of the characters rather than an individual. Her chemistry with Thornhill is weird, it feels forced and Hitchcock extends the sexual innuendo to lengths I didn’t think possible, making it seem tedious and laughable.
As for supporting cast, ‘North by Northwest’ is full of weird over the top characters that add to the overall tone and thrill of the film. The villain, Phillip Vandamm, played with excellence menace by James Mason, provides some much-needed variety and subtlety to the film. His swift unsettling composure and charm work really well in comparison to Grant’s flustered performance. However, he is left mainly unexplained and motiveless due to his character being established as only serving the purpose of the antagonist. The world of the film feels so unfamiliar as so many side characters are ridiculous and heightened, but they all serve a purpose that works to make the film feel very enjoyable.
The film falls apart most in its pacing, it is way too drawn out during the second half. The plot consists of events and scenes that pile upon each other, it is ‘and then’ storytelling when you break it down. Now individual scenes are fantastic, especially the plane sequence, but after a while, I tended to lose interest in each individual event because it is so exhausting. Hitchcock manages to create so many beautiful vignettes of tension and excellent dialogue and structuring, that almost would work as individual short films but the threads between these events are convoluted and weak. There isn’t much in the way of character arc or development, but in many ways, the film simplifies character for the spectacle which is an entirely subjective decision that I don’t love.
I would confidently say, this is Hitchcock’s best-looking film, which is a very controversial statement. The excellent set design and location use has such a variety that every location and scene feel iconic and individual, the sense of adventure is embodied through the vast changes in visual representation. The colour schemes are so bright and raw, with scenes and characters having such a unique visual fingerprint especially Eva and how she is associated with certain locations. Some of the sets and effects look a bit dated, but that is too be expected from a 50-year-old film. I was a bit disappointed with the score. It wasn’t especially unique or individual, but it did occasionally reignite a scene with some needed pace and tension.
‘North by Northwest’ is such a barrage of confusion and fun that in the end I enjoyed a lot more than I expected. It isn’t an amazing film, it suffers from massive pacing and character problems, but I think Hitchcock still manages to create this excellent absurd spy thriller. In many ways, it is the ultimate spy movie, it has the charming villains, the damsel in distress, the smooth and relatable hero. I am still thinking about and smiling about ‘North by Northwest’ and I don’t think I will ever quite get or understand it, but I still had an immense amount of fun with it.