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Birdy

7.0

5,437

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Original title

Birdy

Year

1984

Running time

118 min.

Country

United States

Director

Alan Parker

Screenwriter

Sandy Kroopf, Jack Behr. Novel: William Wharton

Cast

Music

Peter Gabriel

Cinematography

Michael Seresin

Producer

TriStar Pictures

Genre

Drama | Disease/illness. Friendship. Vietnam war. Animals. Birds

Synopsis

"Birdy" is a guy from Philadelphia, a Vietnam vet hospitalized for postwar trauma. Lying in a state of amentia, Birdy (Matthew Modine) fantasizes about birds in flight, an obsession that has haunted him since childhood. Now this fascination acts as a barrier to reality and the pain of his years in Vietnam. After doctors’ efforts fail to cure him, his childhood friend Al (Nicolas Cage)--also a discharged soldier nursing wounds from the war--is brought in to try to coax Birdy out of his hallucinations.

Rankings Position

#11 Best Movies about Animals

Awards: 1985: Cannes: Jury Prize

1984: National Board of Review (NBR): nominated to Top Ten Films.

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Critics' reviews

"The strangest thing about Birdy which is a very strange and beautiful movie indeed, is that it seems to work best at its looniest level, and is least at ease with the things it takes most seriously. Read full review (...) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 4)"

Roger Ebert: Chicago Sun-Times
Belying the lightheartedness of its title, Birdy is a heavy adult drama about best friends and the after-effects of war, but it takes too long to live up to its ambitious premise. Read full review

Variety Staff: Variety
A trifle self-indulgent - well, it is directed by Alan Parker - but never boring

Time Out
Some of director Alan Parker's compositions here are striking (...)Then again, they're all the same -- after two hours, you're bored by them"

Paul Attanasio: The Washington Post
Birdy is one of those rare movies that successfully brings a psychological novel to the screen without sacrificing its saliency or complexity. Read full review

TV Guide
Directed by Alan Parker, the movie takes itself inordinately seriously as a moral fable expressing eternal truths. It feels morose and unrelieved, despite the efforts of the two actors.

Pauline Kael: The New Yorker
"Despite the film's heavily symbolic tone, little is revealed about either of the characters or indeed the Vietnam War (...) Rating: ★★ (out of 5)"

William Thomas: Empire
Mr. Modine's performance is exceptionally sweet and graceful; Mr. Cage very sympathetically captures Al's urgency and frustration. Together, these actors work miracles with what might have been unplayable

Janet Maslin: The New York Times

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Birdy

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