Human uses of birds with effective mimicry of birds. The play's chorus consists of characters playing many identifiable species, including the kingfisher, turtledove, and sparrowhawk; birds feature as messengers and dancers, and several Athenians are compared to specific birds. In film, birds can feature as the major driving force in a story, as in Alfred Hitchcock's acclaimed 1963 "The Birds". Loosely based on Daphne du Maurier's story of the same name, it tells the tale of sudden attacks on people by violent flocks of birds. A bird plays the role of an outlet for a person's feelings in Ken Loach's much admired 1969 "Kes".
The Birds (film) the passage of time the film's standing among critics has improved. On Rotten Tomatoes it has an approval rating of 96% based on reviews from 52 critics, with an average rating of 8.2/10, and the website's consensus states: "Proving once again that build-up is the key to suspense, Hitchcock successfully turned birds into some of the most terrifying villains in horror history." On Metacritic it has a score of 87 out of 100, based on reviews from 12 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". Film critic David Thomson refers to it as Hitchcock's "last unflawed film". Humanities scholar Camille Paglia wrote a