*whimper* Please don't remake it?So today I watched 1963's The Birds for the first time as an adult. Ugh! SO GOOD! Wait, let me compose myself.
As a child I watched many a Hitchcock film. Even though the iconic scenes have remained burned into my brain, most of the more subtle nuances have been wiped clean. In the case of The Birds, I distinctly remember those crows slowly begin to gather behind Miss Melanie Daniels. What I had forgotten, or rather hadn't picked up on in the first place, was the impeccable set up of tension during those scenes. The angles, the sound, the acting; it all came together to create an intense experience. Had this fallen into other hands something all together different would have sprung forth.
The idea itself is almost laughable. Attacking birds. Many an 'animals attack' flick has gone south (I'm looking at you Bats) rather quickly. The fact that at face value this film could have easily been an ineffective joke makes the remake extra icky for me. Because... a remake could easily turn out to be an unintentional, ineffective joke. Sad. But, the subject matter and premise make for a slippery slope. I don't know whats worse, outdated technology or CGI seagulls... I'm digressing from the remake talk.
Tippi Hedren is gorgeous. Suzanne Pleshette is gorgeous. Rod Taylor is so manly it hurts. What a glorious cast to stare at for 119 minutes. I think I have a new cinematic obsession.
1 comments:
I'd agree with you. See, even though I can see the positive with remakes, certain films and directors are basically untouchable. Hitchcock being one of them. The only plausible way I'd ever consider maybe seeing a remake of The Birds would be if you cast Naomi Watts and George Clooney and used the old school special effects of just cutting footage of birds over the original print.
That will always rock in my opinion. And yes, Rod Taylor was all sorts of manly. I had forgotten when I watched it a few months ago for the first time in many years.
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