Introduction
Birdy was released in 1984 and directed by Alan Parker.
It won the Jury’s Special Grand Prix in 1985 at the Cannes Film
Festival and is based on the novel of the same name by William
Wharton. It tells the story of two friends, Birdy and Al, played by
Matthew Modine and Nicolas Cage respectively, who are conscripted
to fight in Vietnam, where they both suffer different degrees of
mental and physical trauma. The film alternates between
scenes after their return from the war, which take place in the
military psychiatric hospital where Birdy is a patient, and the
back-story of the friends’ early life together, told
chronologically in flashbacks.
These flashbacks reveal the gradual
development of Birdy’s extremely bizarre behaviour, involving his
preoccupation with birds and flying, which is firmly in place
before he goes to Vietnam. In contrast, the scenes in the
psychiatric hospital reveal how both Birdy and Al have been
affected by their experiences in the war. The film offers a perfect
opportunity to consider the issues of Post Traumatic Stress
Disorder in both characters, and the development of catatonia in
Birdy.
The Film
The film begins after the friends have returned from the war and
are both in separate military hospitals. Birdy is seen squatting on
the floor of a bare cell looking up at the high window, in a
position suggestive of a bird. Al is returning from surgery to a
ward with his face in bandages, the result of severe burns
requiring skin grafts. Al is soon sent to visit Birdy, at the
request of Birdy’s mother, in the hope that their friendship will
help to entice Birdy out of his bizarre unresponsive, mute state.
Al learns that Birdy was missing in action for a month in Vietnam
before being found and that he has not talked since then. Al starts
trying to communicate with his old friend using their shared
memories. At this point we see the first flashback from their
youth, in which Al catches sight of Birdy squatting high in the
branches of a tree, and learn that the neighbourhood children have
given him the nickname ‘Bird Boy’ or ‘the weird kid’. As the
back-story progresses, Al and Birdy’s unlikely friendship unfolds
as Birdy’s singular passion for birds and flight draws Al in to
many daring and sometimes dangerous ventures. In the scenes at the
psychiatric hospital, Al becomes more and more frustrated by
Birdy’s lack of response, and his own need to reconnect with his
friend becomes increasingly apparent. Al chooses to withhold the
important information about Birdy’s background from Dr Weiss, the
psychiatrist, wanting to keep the things that they did together
private. The flashbacks begin to reveal the development of Birdy’s
increasingly strange and abnormal behaviour as he is seen trying to
live in the pigeon coop like his birds, and later when he strips
naked to sleep in the large birdcage with his female canary, whilst
he experiences some erotic fantasies centered on his pet. As well
as this, Birdy’s social isolation and lack of interest in any
intimate human sexual relationship is brilliantly portrayed when
Birdy’s parents force him to go to the school prom with a date. It
later becomes clear that Birdy believes that he will fly one day,
using his own muscle power, and that he can learn to talk to his
pet birds. In fact in one conversation with Al, Birdy states that
he saw himself fly one night and believed that he was a bird. As Al
becomes more angry and agitated by his inability to connect with
Birdy, we learn that he suffers from flashbacks of the events that
injured him, which occur during his sleep and that wake him,
drenched in sweat. He doesn’t want anyone to know that he is
suffering in this way, but it becomes clear that Al is struggling
to maintain his own mental health. After having no success in
helping Birdy to speak again, Dr Weiss threatens to send Al away,
but Al makes one final request of the psychiatrist, that he hopes
might trigger Birdy’s memory of their past friendship. By this
time, Al is desperate for Birdy’s friendship and conversation and
the breakthrough comes as Al tells him, in tears, how awful he is
feeling. As Al sits holding Birdy close to him on the floor of his
cell, he is astonished when Birdy says “Al sometimes you’re so full
of s**t”. When Al asks him why he decided to talk, he replied “I
didn’t, it just happened”. The ending of the film must be left for
the viewer to experience.
Relevance to the field of Mental Health
This film provides an excellent opportunity to discuss the
development of a catatonic schizophrenic illness in a young man,
from his pre-morbid schizoid personality to his episode of mute
posturing in the pose of a bird, triggered by his experiences of
war. It also offers a platform to consider the effects of traumatic
war experiences on both young men. As catatonic schizophrenia has
become less common in our society, perhaps because there is earlier
intervention and effective drug treatment for schizophrenia now
available, Birdy provides a very important opportunity for students
of all mental health professions to gain an understanding of the
condition. Catatonia is defined as a disturbance of motor behaviour
that may have a psychological or neurological cause. In its most
well known form, the individual may remain fixed and immobile in a
bizarre and uncomfortable position for a lengthy period of time
lasting days or even longer. It can also present with agitated
hyperkinetic behaviour. Catatonia, as a symptom, is associated with
a variety of mental disorders, only one of which is schizophrenia.
Other conditions associated with the symptom are brain disease,
mood disorders, drugs, alcohol and metabolic disturbances. As
outlined in the ICD-10 classification of mental disorders, the
diagnosis of catatonic schizophrenia is indicated if there is
pronounced psychomotor disturbance present, with a marked decrease
in reactivity to the environment. Bizarre postures may be held for
lengthy periods of time and mutism may be a feature. The other
features of schizophrenia, such as delusions and hallucinations may
also be present, but if a person is mute, this will not always be
possible to assess at the time of presentation. The film provides a
superb understanding of the importance that past history plays in
unraveling the possible causes of mutism. Because Al withholds this
important information from the psychiatrist, there is no
possibility of Dr Weiss understanding the context in which Birdy
has become unwell. For further information about schizophrenia, the
Royal College of Psychiatrists website has some useful pages. Of
particular interest in this film is the fact that the story is not
just about Birdy’s mental illness, but also about the effects on Al
of his traumatic experiences in Vietnam. He is seen to develop some
of the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. This provides an
additional platform for considering the topic of PTSD, perhaps
alongside a reading of the information at the Royal College of
Psychiatrists website on the condition. The NHS choices website
also has an informative video featuring the personal account of a
victim of the 7th July London bomb blast. I would recommend this
film for anyone interested in general adult mental health and in
particular for learning about the development of a schizophrenic
illness. • Minds on Film is written by Consultant Psychiatrist Dr
Joyce Almeida. • Further information about Birdy is available at
IMDB, as is a short trailer.
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