The
Birds,
Alfred Hitchcock and Bernard Herrmann’s seventh film collaboration,
displays relationships as a key thematic element. Most critics agree
that this
film is indeed
one about relationships and not simply bird attacks. Robin Wood says, “The
essential meaning of the film…that life is a matter of beating
off the birds, and the only (partial) security is the formation of
deep relationships.”[1] Donald
Spoto agrees, “More important and more enduring than any of this
is the fact that the movie is a profound meditation on human relationships
and on the myopic emotional vision that informs most of them.”[2] These
assessments are correct in the sense that The Birds is a film
primarily about a relationship formed as a result of fear of isolation,
namely the
Melanie and Lydia relationship. However, these critics seem to ignore
the valuable role of Herrmann’s sounds in
the film that accompany this tale. By discussing the film’s relationships
in regards to sound, one can dispute the optimistic views of the critics. The
Birds carefully
orchestrates sound and objects related thereto in order to represent
Annie Hayworth’s isolation and
the subordination
of Melanie to create a relationship with
Lydia.