Birdy (1984)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Alan Parker

Writers:

Sandy Kroopf (screenplay) and
Jack Behr (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

21 December 1984 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

A soaring experience unlike anything you've ever seen before.

Plot:

Two friends arrive back from Vietnam, scarred in different ways. One has physical injuries, the other...

Plot Keywords:

Bird | Vietnam | Vietnam War | Prom | Junkyard

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Matthew Modine	...	Birdy
Nicolas Cage	...	Sgt. Alfonso 'Al' Columbato
John Harkins	...	Major Weiss M.D.
Sandy Baron	...	Mr. Columbato
Karen Young	...	Hannah Rourke
Bruno Kirby	...	Renaldi
Nancy Fish	...	Mrs. Prevost
George Buck	...	Walt - Birdy's Father
Dolores Sage	...	Birdy's Mother
Pat Ryan	...	Joe Sagessa (as Robert L. Ryan)
James Santini	...	Mario Columbato
Maud Winchester	...	Doris Robinson (as Maude Winchester)
Marshall Bell	...	Ronsky
Elizabeth Whitcraft	...	Rosanne
Sandra Beall	...	Shirley

Runtime:

120 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Chile:18 | Finland:K-16 | France:-12 | Norway:16 (1985) | South Korea:15 (DVD rating) | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R | West Germany:12 | New Zealand:R | Iceland:16

Filming Locations:

46th Street Station, cnr Market & 46th Streets, Santa Clara, California, USA

Company:

A&M Films

Trivia:

Matthew Modine auditioned for the role of Al but Alan Parker cast him as Birdy instead.

Quotes:

Birdy: You ever wondered what our lives down here must look like to a bird?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Benchwarmers (2006)

Brilliant story of friendship, and a journey into madness

Birdy is a difficult film to describe. It's about the developing friendship between Al (Nick Cage) and Birdy (Matthew Modine), but it's also about a descent into madness, and the lengths to which Al goes for his friend.

The film starts in the late 60's, in a US military mental hospital. Cage has been seriously wounded, and has had reconstructive surgery on his face, but he's been brought in because Birdy is here. He's uncommunicative and appears to recognise no one, spending all day squatting on the floor of his cell squinting up at the window.

The story is mostly told in flashbacks, either Al recounting incidents in their growing friendship as neighbourhood kids or, later, Birdy remembering other incidents. From the start the two are pretty dissimilar - Al is athletic, outgoing and popular while Birdy is quiet and introverted - a typical nerd. The two are, paradoxically, brought together by Birdy's love of birds, and the stupid things they do - making suits out of pigeon feathers to befriend more pigeons, climbing on (and falling off) factories trying to capture more birds.

Al tries to set Birdy on a 'normal' track; they buy a wrecked car and fix it up, and head off to the beach. But Birdy is just too wrapped up in himself for this to work, and it's a wonder he doesn't alienate Al with his strange behaviour.

In the 'present', the doctor is putting more pressure on Al to get Birdy to respond; if he doesn't, then Birdy will be written off and sent to a permanent mental institution. The flashbacks continue, and it becomes clear that Birdy's love of birds has turned into an obsession, and then into the darker realms beyond that.

The final few minutes of the film cover a lot of ground; Al finally realises that Birdy is pretty well off the deep end; they both go off to fight in the war; Al gets his injury, while we see the incident that left Birdy in his present state. Meanwhile the doctor finally decides that time has run out, but Al decides he's not leaving.

The ending of the film is incredibly powerful, and it should be a criminal offence to give it away. Is it 'appropriate' to the rest of the film? I dunno - but I thought it was pretty damn good.

The film stands or falls on the performances of Cage and Modine - and, for me, it stands tall. Cage is excellent in his role, capturing the bravado of his character perfectly; but Modine is simply brilliant. During the flashbacks he portrays his nerdy character completely believably, but it's the way he handles the scenes in the asylum that amazed me. As soon as you know his obsession, it is crystal clear that he's not squatting in his cell, but perching, wishing to fly.

Alan Parker has made some great films; this might just be his best.