BIRDY (OST)

I saw the film "Birdy" in a cinema in 1985 or in 1986, and I saw it again on TV years later. The story told in the film, as other reviewers wrote, is the story (if I remember well) of two childhood friends who are years later recruited to go to fight to the Vietnam War. One of them (Birdy)became obsessed with birds since childhood, and his friend looks at his behaviour with some surprise until both are hurt in the war and are send to the Military Hospital. In the Hospital Birdy`s fascination with birds leads him to think that he is one of them to the point that he retires from the real world adopting birds` behaviour. This strange (and fictitious, as the final credits of the film say) mental illness is shown in the film as the final outcome of the effects of war in the mind of Birdy. The final scene of the film is very funny, with Birdy jumping from the Hospital Room`s window, trying to fly, with his friend being frightened by this, but Birdy laughs at him as he really jumps to a roof which is below the window.

The music of Peter Gabriel for this film works very well with the scenes shown in the film. Gabriel has a lot of talent to make music for films like this. Most of the instrumental music for this film was done with Gabriel re-working the music of some songs from his third and fourth albums. The mood of the music is adapted very well to the scenes in this film. I particularly liked very much "Close Up (from Family Snapshot)" , "Birdy's Flight (from Not One Of Us)" and "Under Lock And Key (from Wallflower)" . The musical themes are reprised several times in the film working very well.