A possible resolution and denouement would be that once Mitch leaves his hometown with his family and Marion, the birds' attacks heighten in violence and they end up exterminating one another. This could be backed up by the "lemmings over-the-cliff" idea that they "autodestruct" due to overpopulation. It would be nature's way of regaining balance and control.
Another option would be that once Mitch evacuates the village with his family, Marion, and the turtle doves, the aggressive birds mysteriously disappear, as if the very presence of these caged birds had incited the whole thing. I think this ending is more enigmatic and "sticks" better to the rest of the story. If you want to get really creepy, you could have a couple of bird "escapees" showing up again on a tree outside wherever Mitch, his family and the turtle doves are relocated. To make the nightmare continue in a truly "Hitchcockian" way....
As for symbolism, these attacks which seem against nature could symbolise another "act against nature," Mitch's overattachment and perhaps even Oedipal attraction to his mother. At least in the early film version, at first one is not sure whether she is Mitch's wife or mother. But the good relationship between the two women seems to refute this hypothesis, and it seems that Hitchcock was taking a certain poetic licence in presenting the film in such a way.
No comments:
Post a Comment