Psychoanalysis In Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds

Alfred Hitchcock is a well-known movie director for his interpretations of using the concepts and the theory of psychoanalysis in his films. Specifically in the film, “The Birds”, there are scenes throughout the movie that represent psychoanalysis. An imagery that Alfred Hitchcock uses to represent psychoanalysis is the concept of the unconscious mind to show to the relationship of Melanie Daniel and the birds. By using the concept of “the unconscious”, in the movie to he represents it through the ideas of aggression, the uncanny and displacement.

Specifically relating to the unconscious minds of Melanie and the birds, both have a close relationship with each other. The unconscious being “ … composed in part of repressed motives and thoughts”.

This is due to the uncanniness that develops throughout the film. In the beginning of the film, it begins with the scene of Melanie Daniels casually walking down the streets of downtown San Francisco, but the camera angle is then angled up towards the sky with a huge swarm of birds just fly over the city. This feeling of uncanniness develops for the movie viewer, where it’s normal to see birds fly but a strange feeling develops that something will happen because the amount of birds is out of the ordinary. Another scene in the movie where the sense of the uncanny develops is the dinner scene at the Brenner’s house when Melanie is invited for the dinner for the first time. When the Brenners and Melanie are casually eating dinner, the lovebirds start to chirp constantly. This wasn't normal for the lovebirds on the way into Bodega Bay, they had been very quiet and peaceful. But as the chirping intensifies then silences, Melanie stops what she’s doing to try and figure out the situation. This is when the birds attack through the chimney. One finch at first stumbles in, but then a huge group of finches enter the household. Huge swarms of birds happen throughout the movie. But it isn’t the attacks that seem uncanny at first, it’s the silence and calmness of the flock of the birds before they attack. Just like the dinner scene, this happens again at the school when Melanie goes to pick up Cathy from school. While Melanie, waits outside for Cathy, a murder of crows develops behind her. The feeling of why the birds are doing this in the first place is unsettling and puzzling. Melanie throughout the attacks tries to figure out why the birds are only attacking Bodega Bay specifically only when she arrives to town. As the attacks from the birds intensify, the feeling of uncanniness increases because the