A Scientist at the Movies Reviews by Greg Paris

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Title: The Birdpeople

Date Viewed: 2/2/06

Details:

Written & directed by: Michael Gitlin

Score: 1/2

The Review: Although the bird-watching community is loosely-knit, its members nonetheless have distinctive & quirky habits, a unique sensibility and ethos, and a language all their own. They have a word for the National Geographic style of photography that gives you stunning colors and sharp images of birds doing all sorts of wondrous things -- amazing telephoto cinematography that is lush, crisp and gorgeous with the tiniest critter in full-screen view. They call it "bird porn."

The Birdpeople is definitely not "bird porn." Shot in 16mm, this experimental documentary weaves together multiple threads -- birders as sociological oddities; the (extinct?) ivory-billed woodpecker (IBW) as the target of a quest; a view of birding activities as natural history (banding, etc.); and ornithology museum collections as debatable excess (a consequence of late 1800 and early 1900 collection when conservation had a very different meaning). It has a generally melancholy tone -- the loss of species in general, the possible loss of the IBW in particular -- which is enhanced by occasional snippets of archival footage from Cornell University's search for the IBW in the early years of the 20th century. There's a little bit of humor (birders really are a curious lot), but this generally slow-paced film is definitely serious and occasionally maudlin. The long panning views across huge museum collections of now-extinct bird carcasses, silent and without explicit commentary, are particularly noteworthy.

Birdpeople was released in early 2005, coincidentally just before the recent spate of putative IBW sightings (and recordings, which may offer the more definitive evidence). I had the opportunity to see this film in a museum setting bracketed by an introduction by, and postscript discussion with, the director. One of the questions posed by the audience was if he had any intention to re-edit the film in the light of recent IBW findings. He declined, in favor of the film as originally constructed, in part because of his satisfaction with its content and mood, and in part to allow him to move onto new projects.

(3-Feb-06)

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