If a movie is based on a true story does that automatically make it good? It seems that Hollywood has been hoping so for many of their movies. All of these movies are almost the exact same, a hero who faces unfair odds in order to achieve happiness. It's the same idea as almost every other movie but producers are hoping that we will cheer extra hard for these heroes because they were real people. Birdman of Alcatraz wasn't a bad movie but still felt formulaic and predictable.
Birdman of Alcatraz tells the story of Robert Stroud, (played by Burt Lancaster) a prisoner who seems determined to disobey the rules just to be a pain to authority. One day Stroud finds a baby bird outside in the prison courtyard and decides to take care of it. Because he has nothing better to do with his time, he starts to train the bird to do all sorts of tricks. The bird becomes popular with all the other inmates who began to receive birds as well. Amongst these inmates is Feto Gomez, played by Telly Savalaz, the inmate who lives in the neighboring cell to Robert Stroud. However, few inmates are up to the task of caring for birds and most turn to Stroud. Through a process of trial and error Stroud eventually becomes the worlds leading expert in birds. However, eventually, and complete unsurprisingly he has to constantly fight the system in order to be happy.
While Birdman of Alcatraz told a strong story and tried to tell it in the best possible way, there seemed to be no way around the almost painful predictability of it. Viewers will feel so familiar with the story that even as they watch the movie for the first time they will feel that they can quote the lines right along with the actors.
The actors do try their hardest to breathe life into their respective characters. Lancaster's portrayal of Stroud is especially impressive. He is able to cause the audience to feel sorry for his character and cheer for him over the prison guards even though we see Stroud kill a man at the beginning of the movie. Other impressive performances include Karl Malden as Harvey Shoemaker, The warden of the jails that Stroud stays in, and Thelma Ritter who played Robert Stroud's mother Elizabeth Stroud.
Though Birdman of Alcatraz feels formulaic, it was well liked by critics and audiences alike in 1962, the year it first came out. In fact the movie was nominated for four Oscars, in Best Actor (Burt Lancaster), Best Actress (Elizabeth Stroud) Best Supporting Actor (Telly Savalas), and Best Cinematography in a black and white film. However, it failed to win any of the awards. Nevertheless, Savala's nomination was the most beneficial launching him into super stardom and allowing him to be considered for later roles including his most famous one, the detective Kojak.
An interesting thing that Birdman of Alcatraz did however was have the movie shot in black and white rather than in color. This technique added to the drab feel that the audiences got when looking at a bare cell where Stroud lived. Added to this was an interesting use of camera angles. For instance during a scene where a character is drunk, the camera tilts to give the audience a feeling of drunkenness too. And when Stroud is lying defeated on the floor of his cell, the camera is also low to the ground to give the audience a feeling of defeat and depression that Stroud was feeling at the moment.
While Birdman of Alcatraz is predictable, that does not make it a bad movie. The characters are realistic enough that viewers will be drawn into the story and cheer for the hero. It is also contains very memorable moments of cinematography that, while it they may not make the movie worth owning, they are worth viewing at least once.
Birdman of Alcatraz tells the story of Robert Stroud, (played by Burt Lancaster) a prisoner who seems determined to disobey the rules just to be a pain to authority. One day Stroud finds a baby bird outside in the prison courtyard and decides to take care of it. Because he has nothing better to do with his time, he starts to train the bird to do all sorts of tricks. The bird becomes popular with all the other inmates who began to receive birds as well. Amongst these inmates is Feto Gomez, played by Telly Savalaz, the inmate who lives in the neighboring cell to Robert Stroud. However, few inmates are up to the task of caring for birds and most turn to Stroud. Through a process of trial and error Stroud eventually becomes the worlds leading expert in birds. However, eventually, and complete unsurprisingly he has to constantly fight the system in order to be happy.
While Birdman of Alcatraz told a strong story and tried to tell it in the best possible way, there seemed to be no way around the almost painful predictability of it. Viewers will feel so familiar with the story that even as they watch the movie for the first time they will feel that they can quote the lines right along with the actors.
The actors do try their hardest to breathe life into their respective characters. Lancaster's portrayal of Stroud is especially impressive. He is able to cause the audience to feel sorry for his character and cheer for him over the prison guards even though we see Stroud kill a man at the beginning of the movie. Other impressive performances include Karl Malden as Harvey Shoemaker, The warden of the jails that Stroud stays in, and Thelma Ritter who played Robert Stroud's mother Elizabeth Stroud.
Though Birdman of Alcatraz feels formulaic, it was well liked by critics and audiences alike in 1962, the year it first came out. In fact the movie was nominated for four Oscars, in Best Actor (Burt Lancaster), Best Actress (Elizabeth Stroud) Best Supporting Actor (Telly Savalas), and Best Cinematography in a black and white film. However, it failed to win any of the awards. Nevertheless, Savala's nomination was the most beneficial launching him into super stardom and allowing him to be considered for later roles including his most famous one, the detective Kojak.
An interesting thing that Birdman of Alcatraz did however was have the movie shot in black and white rather than in color. This technique added to the drab feel that the audiences got when looking at a bare cell where Stroud lived. Added to this was an interesting use of camera angles. For instance during a scene where a character is drunk, the camera tilts to give the audience a feeling of drunkenness too. And when Stroud is lying defeated on the floor of his cell, the camera is also low to the ground to give the audience a feeling of defeat and depression that Stroud was feeling at the moment.
While Birdman of Alcatraz is predictable, that does not make it a bad movie. The characters are realistic enough that viewers will be drawn into the story and cheer for the hero. It is also contains very memorable moments of cinematography that, while it they may not make the movie worth owning, they are worth viewing at least once.