Hannibal: a pigeon choreography displaying the cannibal

Title: Hannibal

Year:  2001

Director:  Ridley Scott

Running time: 131 min.

Country: United States

This film represents a perfect example of mainstream film that leverages pigeons for multiple purposes (creating perturbing or pitiful feelings in the spectator) . The first pigeon appearance is in the main credits. Here, pigeons are shown in grey scale, recorded with low resolution by surveillance cameras. Here pigeons are shown as mysterious and slightly hideous creatures. In this scene we can see a close up of a pigeon and several shots of pigeons in parks (the reason the security cameras are recording pigeons is uncertain, maybe they were calibrated by a pigeon fancier).

In the main credits we can see a sinister pigeon with a defiant look... maybe it's a cannibal 

In the main credits there is a dark scene with a flock of pigeons gathered in a square

What is more clear is the reason for introducing pigeons in this point of the film: they were used to represent Hannibal Lecter. In the scene, a large flock of pigeons gathers and creats Hannibal's face. This image lasts for a very short time. It is both disturbing and quite an achievement to find a mixture of pigeons, pixel-art and cannibalism-exaltation in a single shot.

Hannibal's face created by a flock of pigeons

According to Wikipedia:  The tile sequence remained on Scott's mind and would eventually end up as the main title sequence. Livesey would gather footage of pigeons in an empty square in Florence early one morning which, in the final cut, would morph into the face of Hannibal Lecter. Scott believed it a good idea, as it fundamentally asked the question: 'Where is Hannibal Lecter?' Scott explains: "And of course this story tells it, with pigeons in the cobblestones of somewhere, where you wonder where that is ... and there he is... his face appears.". The titles are said to have been influenced by the film Seven.

Later, in the film, Hannibal tells a perturbing story about roller pigeons (pigeons with the ability to roll in the air) to justify how behavior can be controlled by genes. He mentions that there are two classes of roller pigeons, deep rollers and shallow rollers.  When two deep rollers are bred together, their offspring will roll to the ground and kill themselves. The scene that includes this conversation can be seen here. A curious story that is unclear whether true or false.

There is a counterpart to this scene related to one of the characters that rescues an injured pigeon from a road and tries to take care of it. This action clearly shows that he is a noble person. Although this is a secondary character, he provides a crucial hint to the research of the investigation into the case.

This man is putting his life in risk to save an injured pigeon

The rescued injured pigeon with a fellow pigeon that shows concern for health

Details of the pigeon starring 

• Source: Hannibal. Starring moments: 0:3:40, 0:4:24, 0:24:30, 0:27:33, 0:29:03 (last three timestamps represent a pigeon hotspot).
• Pigeon activity:  This film contains several pigeon appearances. All of them are wild pigeons that roam, fly or lay in public areas.
• Symbolism: The first pigeon appearance (in the main credits) is full of symbolism. Both the intriguing representation of the pigeons as well the formation of Hannibal's face, create the impression that the dark shadow of Hannibal Lecter is so shape-shifting and ethereal that it can appear and disappear anywhere. 
• Relevance: Medium. Unfortunately the pigeon activity does not have a relevant impact on the film plot. However, they are the protagonists in the main credits and are mentioned by Hannibal Lecter.  
• Training level: Low. The pigeon appearances in the main credits are wild animals or CGI generated. The other one, that lays injured, does not perform any action and probably is a sedated animal or a dummy. 

Ghost in the shell: what a feathered surprise!!

Title: Ghost in the shell

Year:  2017

Director:  Rupert Sanders

Running time: 107  min.

Country: USA

In this film I was surprised seeing a fascinating futuristic mega-city in Japan, altered humans with all kinds of cybernetic artefacts and plenty of action. But it also depicts poverty, social inequalities, corruption and a lack of respect for human-rights. A very sad futuristic perspective that at least was compensated by a feathered surprise.

Mira discovers the abandoned house that hosts the pigeons

When amnesia-sufferer "Major" Mira Killian (Scarlett Johansson) is in the search of her forgotten past she discovers an abandoned house covered with several pigeons that have adopted it as a resting place.

We can observe several pigeons flying and others standing on the roof

This peace is interrupted by the appearance of Ms. Johansson and the subsequent extreme violence scenes. Because of this, the Japanese pigeons serenely fly away. Fortunately, these pigeons do not seem to have any cybernetic implants.

Another screen shot with a nice pigeon siluetee 

Details of the pigeon starring 

• Source: Ghost in the shell. Starring moment: 1:23:24
• Pigeon activity: Even in a distant future, pigeons behave in the same way as today.
• Symbolism: Pigeons are used to provide more realism to the abandoned scene that is being displayed.
• Relevance: None. They only distract the protagonist for a short interval of time.
• Training level: Low. They only fly in the distance.
  

Lego Batman The Movie - DC Superheroes United: lego pigeons!!

Title: Lego Batman: The Movie - DC Superheroes United

Year:  2013

Director:   Jon Burton

Running time: 71 min.

Country: USA

I was very pleased when I discovered that the iconic megalopolis of Gotham City has pigeons living in it. I think that this is a good example of how we (humans) extrapolate our living environment to imaginary scenarios. One exception that makes me deeply sad is Star Wars, where I couldn't find a single pigeon appearance in the whole saga. It seems that the pigeons had been unable to reach the Star Wars galaxy, that is too far away. I think that we will address this topic in another post.

Regarding this film, the context of the scene is the following one: Batman and Superman are fighting against a robot piloted by the Joker and Lex Luthor. In the middle of the combat, the robot falls in a park in the centre of Gotham city. What kind of innocent creatures were in the midst of the combat, roaming around the park? I think that it is not necessary to answer this question....

In the screenshot above we can see Mr. Bruce Wayne... sorry! Batman, looking how the evil robot falls down. He is surrounded by pigeons.

When the robot tragically collapses, both  the pigeons and Batman escape scared. It is interesting to highlight that Batman does not pay attention to the pigeons. Of course, he is in the middle of a fierce combat. But, on top of that, it is well known that pigeons and bats are like water and oil.... they can be in the same place, but they don't mix. 

Details of the pigeon starring 

• Source: Lego Batman The Movie - DC Superheroes United. Starring moment: 0:59:00
• Pigeon activity: They represent typical pigeon life in urban environments. 
• Symbolism: I think that pigeons are used to provide more realism to the scene. That is, the use of pigeons makes Gotham City to seem like any other large city found in the real world. 
• Relevance: None. Unfortunately, pigeons are unable to help Batman in his tireless fight against the Joker. 
• Training level: Not applicable. They are computer-generated images.  

Sea of love: Al Pacino's feathered surprise

Title: Sea of love

Year:  1989

Director:   Harold Becker

Running time: 110 min.

Country: United States

I have watched many Al Pacino films. In some of them he is a brave drug dealer with almost no scruples, or evil itself, or, like in this film, a brave policeman in search of a serial killer. In almost all his characters he plays as a tough man, very prone to using violence and also very hard to shock or unflutter. However, in this film,  Detective Frank Keller (Pacino) finds a very disgusting surprise when he is pursuing a murderer.

In the pigeon starring scene, Frank is a bit drunk heading back home  (following the stereotype of many detectives, he enjoys drinking and smoking) when he senses something suspicious in the apartment block corridor. He seems to think that the serial killer may be hiding outside the window. When he looks, he is violently scared by a group of pigeons that probably were sleeping near the window and are suddenly disturbed by this drunk and violent man. It is interesting to see Pacino scared by these peaceful animals. Because of his role in this film, he was nominated for the best performance by an actor in the Golden Globes. 

The picture below is a nice portrait of a pigeon besides a famous actor. Isn't it? Perhaps this pained expression is what got him nominated?

Details of the pigeon starring 

• Source: Sea of love. Starring moment:  1:19:29
• Pigeon activity: A group of pigeons scared in the middle of the night by a guy with a gun.
• Symbolism: None. Pigeons are mere urban creatures trying to sleep. 
• Relevance: None. They are used as way for creating tension in the scene. 
• Training level: Medium. Pigeons are trained animals that are freed at the exact time that Al Pacino is looking out of the window. Such a complex scene, requires coordination between the actor, the film-making crew, the pigeon manager and the pigeons themselves. Remarkable. 

Training Day: what do you see when you are high?

Title: Training Day

Year:  2001

Director:   Antoine Fuqua

Running time: 122 min.

Country: United States





Taking into account the nature of this blog, the answer to the question in this post's title may be pretty obvious. Let's contextualise the scene of this film. Jake (Ethan Hawke) is a rookie cop that has a new workmate: the veteran Alonzo (Denzel Washington). In this film Denzel Washington does one of my favourite performances. He is cool...

... but at the same time, there something twisted about him. But anyway. He is one of the best cops. What can be wrong here?

The first weird thing comes with a sudden argument between them. The poor Jake is tricked by Alonzo into smoking something that actually is a strong drug, and soon he enters into a narcotised state with nothing better to do than look out of the window.

So, the question is: what does Jake see when he's under the drug's effects? Streets, trees, and a large pigeon flock (quite relaxing view, by the way) doing their very own flying training day. The birds are displayed with a strong green filter to represent the drug's effects.... a bad omen for the future of the movie plot. Anyway, there are no more pigeon's in this film, thus the rest of it is not relevant for us.

Details of the pigeon starring 

• Source: Training day. Starring moment:  17:50
• Pigeon activity: A typical flock of pigeons flying around.
• Symbolism: Merely circumstantial. Pigeons are just something to look at when you don't have better things to do.
• Relevance: Low. There is a minimal impact on the film plot.
• Training level: None. Probably they are wild animals recorded by the film crew or stock  footage.

The Talented Mr. Ripley: a saturation of pigeons

Title: The Talented Mr. Ripley

Year:  1999

Director: Anthony Minghella
Running time: 139 min.

Country: United States

Humans tend to work with stereotypes. For instance, many people supposed that all the Spaniards love bullfighting and dance flamenco and that an American policeman without donuts is not a genuine policeman. For Anthony Minghella, the director of this movie, it is also assumed that Italy in general and Venice in particular are crowed with pigeons (I don't deny that it's true). Based on this assumption, the director conceived, organized and executed a plan for filming hordes of pigeons. This is a summary of the main appearances:

The first shot is only the prelude of the pigeon apotheosis. A couple walks down a street in Rome and a flock of pigeons appears performing a perfect diagonal flight. Good. It is quite artistic but not comparable to the feathered recordings that we are going to find in Venice.

Some minutes later, now in Venice, we see a square completely saturated with pigeons. The flock is engulfing several characters that seem to be too concerned. I think that it is very artistic. I really like the light in this scene and how the pigeon shadows are projected on the floor.

The next scene comes just few seconds later: Mr. Ripley (Matt Damon) crosses this square with a friend of his. It is interesting to see how scared he is. I'm wondering if he was acting or he was actually afraid of the huge flock of pigeons that flies around him. It is also amusing to see the pigeon captured in the first and third photograms.

Finally, in the last scene, we can see a perfect example of stereotype abuse: in the same scene we can see a street cafe, a guy playing the saxophone, a flock of pigeons and a 'painter'. A complete overload of Italian stereotypes.

Details of the pigeon starring 

• Source: The Talented Mr. Ripley Starring moment: 1:16:03, 1:40:51 and 1:52:05
• Pigeon activity: These are the typical urban pigeon flocks that roam around streets and squares.
• Symbolism: Almost none. They only represent common creatures in Italian cities.
• Relevance: None. Despite their large number, pigeons are only used for creating a familiar Italian atmosphere. No further relationship with the interesting plot of the movie.
• Training level: High. In this movie pigeons behave very naturally, showing an excellent field deployment.

Pigeons from Hell: the dark side of the pigeons

Title: Thriller. Pigeons from Hell

Year:  1961

Director:  John Newland

Running time: 30 min.

Country: United States

In previous posts I affirmed that pigeons are peaceful and innocent creatures whose major fault is not being aware where to poo or to nest. Now, after watching this episode of Pigeons from Hell, I realised that I was wrong because pigeons are not as innocent as they are supposed to be.

In this episode pigeons are souls that leave Hell during night and roam around a deserted plantation mansion. This is quite perturbing, but when we discover that they just not leaving Hell for a short excursion, but they actually enjoy causing suffering to humans, we realise that we are facing a dreadful horror situation.

The sign on the left warns us about the undesirable side effects of feeding pigeons. The author probably tried to be polite by avoiding mentioning nasty pigeon actions. However, if we re-read it in the context of this episode, we realise that these things include actions like murdering or zombification (by means of voodoo). Dreadful. The following pictures correspond to an artist's conception about the contrast between angelic and evil pigeons.

Artist's conception of the contrast between pigeon angels and an evil pigeon from hell.

Regarding Pigeons from Hell, the original story was written in 1934 by Robert E. Howard, and first published in the pulp magazine Weird Tales in 1938. Later, in the 60s, it was made it into an episode of the Thriller horror TV series. At the beginning of the episode, the narrator (Boris Karloff) warns about the evil nature of the pigeons. The video can be seen here. This is a fragment of his tale:

The swamp is alive. Crawling with creatures of death. Creatures that lurk, camouflaged in the undergrowth waiting patiently for an unsuspecting victim. And our young friend was alarmed by a flight of pigeons. Harmless, you say? Well, you'll see that he has good cause for alarm. For those were no ordinary pigeons. They were the pigeons from Hell. That is both the title and the substance of our story. Spirits come back from the dead to guard their ancestral home against intruders. Spirits that in life fed on evil, and now in death, return to feed upon the living

I think that it is a creepy presentation that doesn't prophesy good human-pigeon relationships. Pigeons appear at the very beginning of the episode. John Branner and his friend Tim Griswell are traveling by car and it breaks down close to a deserted plantation mansion. John decides to explore the area and when he approaches to the building he finds a flock of pigeons that mysteriously attack him.

John approaching the old plantation house. We can see the flock of pigeons in front.

John is scared by the pigeons.

When Tim reaches John, he asks him about what happend and John says:

John: There were  pigeons  all of  a sudden…they came right at  me, right at my face!
Tim: Pigeons! You sounded as if somebody were trying to kill you!
John: That’s just it! … It was like they were attacking me!

Due to low budget and old recording technology, this film doesn't have good special effects and the pigeons don't look very scary. However, there is some very good sound engineering work that makes the pigeon's cooing sound dreadful. The best example is when John wakes up, apparently under hypnosis and he goes upstairs to face his death. At this time, the pigeon sound is really horrific. John seems to be a nice boy, but after the pigeon's influence he transforms into a murderer zombie. This sequence can be seen here. I spent many years close to pigeons. More specifically, they were on the roof above me. I know what it's like to wake up by loud pigeon noises (probably mating songs). But the noise in this episode is different, it's a dreadful definitive sound... coming from the hell.  

In this film there is another important pigeon performance. When Tim returns to the mansion with the Sheriff, they found his car completely populated by these evil creatures. In the pictures below, you can appreciate the sheriff's face full of suspicion. 

Details of the pigeon starring 

• Source: Thriller. Pigeons from hell. Starring moment: 0:02:35 and 0:41:15
• Pigeon activity: They are evil and they try to cause pain and suffering to humans.
• Symbolism: The symbolism is very important. They represent evil souls that roam around.
• Relevance: High. Pigeons are one of the key elements of the plot.
• Training level: Low. It is difficult to feature pigeons as evil-deadly creatures and it was even more complex in the 60s, without computer-aided special effects and a low budget. This is why the pigeons don't really seem scary. Actually, they usually seem to be more scared than the characters themselves.

Special thanks to Skelton Knaggs from The Classic Horror Film Board for this suggestion.
 

On the waterfront: pigeons for pulling

Title: On the waterfront
Year:  1954

Director: Elia Kazan

Running time: 108 min.

Country: United States

In this film, we can see practical examples of the use of pigeons for seduction and killing. Marlon Brando won an Oscar performing the role of Terry Malloy: a dockworker that breeds pigeons and sympathizes with a mob-union syndicate.  At the beginning of the film, Terry uses a one of these creatures to fool another pigeon breeder who was going to testify against the union syndicate. With the excuse of finding a lost pigeon, Terry leads him to a deadly ambush. Terry was initially on the side of the bad guys, but we will see that in the end he is not bad at all and pigeon are not only used for wicked purposes.

Terry uses a pigeon to fool another pigeon breeder.

This film is a drama but it also has some room for a memorable romance between Terry and Edie Doyle (Eva Marie Saint) who is the sister of the murdered pigeon breeder. Terry feels attracted to her and the problem is how to get a date. One day, she meets him on a rooftop and Terrie exploits this opportunity to impress her by showing her his pigeons. He proudly talks to her about his fondness for his racing pigeons and how loyal pigeons are.  This is a touching romantic scene where a pigeon performs with the main protagonists. The complete scene can be seen here. Unfortunately, Terry decides to face the mob union syndicate and eventually both Terry and his pigeons suffer a cruel reprisal by this organization.

Terry shows a pigeon to Edie in order to impress her.

Edie took the bait and seems to be interested in the pigeon.

The pigeon trick is working and we can appreciate a spark of interest in her eyes.

Details of the pigeon starring 

• Source: On the waterfront  Starring moment: 0:02:10, 0:35:18
• Pigeon activity: They are bred pigeons that live in a coop on a rooftop in New Jersey.
• Symbolism: There are several theories about the pigeon symbolism. They can represent the dockworkers that are exploited by and kept from testifying by the mob. In this case they represent the weakest members of the community (an analysis can be seen here). The pigeons are also seen as stool pigeons, a slang expression that describes informers. In real life, the director himself became a stool pigeon providing testimony to the HUAC for anti-Communist investigations in Hollywood (analysis here).
• Relevance: High. In the main pigeon appearances, they are used to achieve very different goals: killing an informer and attracting a woman. The pigeons also support Marlon Brando's performance contributing to his Oscar Award.
• Training level: High. They are genuine bred pigeons that are used to being in close contact with humans.

Hard Target: a cocktail of Van Damme, violence and pigeons

Title: Hard Target
Year:  1993
Director: John Woo
Running time: 92 min.
Country: United States

What would you expect from a film directed by John Woo and starring by Jean Claude Van Damme?

Some action?  Sure

Plenty of violence?  Absolutely

Traces of romance?  Few (actually none in this film)

Any pigeons?  Tons of them!!!

This film includes several pigeon-related scenes which develop a significant role in the plot. In the film there are two sides: the goodies and the baddies. On one hand, we find Chance Boudreaux (Jean-Claude Van Damme). He is a hero who is helping Natasha in the search for her father. On the other, there is a group of bad guys commanded by the evil Emil Bouchon. This group eventually finds Mr. Chance and tries to hunt and kill him. In between, there are many pigeon appearances -always supporting the protagonist-. I summarize these appearances in three scenes that I think that are the most representative.

Scene 1, the dove's miraclous guidance

Chances respectful stares at the dove

Chance is at the place where the corpse of Natasha's father was found. He is looking for new evidence when suddenly a dove enters the scene.  Chance follows the flight of the dove, which stops on a wooden railing. We can see how the dove nods pinpointing  the evidence that Chance is looking for.

It is a general consensus that Jean Claude Van Damme didn't perform an exceptional interpretation in this movie but in this scene I think that he does pretty well: he seems to be very interested in the pigeon's behaviour and he shows a respectful attitude (as opposed to Woody Allen in Star Dust Memories). Somehow he knows that the dove is helping him and he appreciates very much this gentile help.

The dove shows Chance the criminal evidence that he is looking for

Scene 2, the martyr pigeons

The hunt for Chance is approaching the climax. He is cornered in an abandoned warehouse. Two John-Woo-style-bad-guy-pimps are chasing him driving motorbikes inside the warehouse. One of them (that we are going to call Bad Guy) stops and searchs for his victim, Mr. Chance. The Bad Guy is not aware of the presence of several pigeons above him. In parallel with this action, and pressed under the circumstances of a heavy vegetable-based breakfast, one of the pigeons poos on the helmet of the Bad Guy  (left picture). This is always a very disturbing event, but if you are a bad guy armed with a machine gun the consecuences can be fatal. This is the case of these innocent pigeons which were massacred under the indiscriminate revenge fire of this pigeon maniac. A bloody-feathered slaughter. After ending his revenge Chance appears in the scene and pronounces his famous and very deep phrase: Hey Pigeon!. The bad guy is unable to kill Chance (given that he finished all the ammunition firing at the pigeons) and Chance takes his time to kill the Bad Guy in a very terrible and painful way which I will avoid describing because it is not related to pigeons. The complete scene can be seen here.

The pigeon feels relaxes after pooing on the Bad Guy

The massacre of the innocent pigeons under the indiscriminate fire of the Bad Guy

Scene 3, the beginning of the killing rampage

After hiding in the deepest side of the warehouse Chance is ready to show his skills as a killing machine in a bloody rampage. Before starting the orgy of violence we can see him with a feathered friend. They are staring each other. I really like the complicity between this two characters.

Mr. Chance waits to start the killing rampage with his feathered friend

Details of the pigeon starring 

• Source: Hard Target  Starring moment: Scene 1: 0:29:45, Scene 2: 1:12:57, Scene 3: 1:15:44
• Pigeon activity: The pigeons develop several roles. In scene 1 there is a providence dove that guides the protagonist. In scene 2 there are common pigeons that live in an abandoned building. Finally, in scene 3 there is a friendly pigeon that fraternizes with Van Damme.
• Symbolism: Again, each scene has a different symbolism. In scene 1 the dove represents the search for justice. Maybe even it could symbolise Natasha's father's soul guiding the protagonist. In scenes 2 and 3 they are common but friendly pigeons.
• Relevance: High. The pigeons help the protagonist in several parts of the movie.
• Training level: John Woo invested a large budget for using pigeons in this movie. Apart from the scenes commented on in this post there are many appearances of pigeons flying across the scenery. All of the pigeons are remarkably well-trained.

Thanks to Dogghound's Knight Grand Cross of the Wild Empire for suggesting this film

Lord of war: the pigeon witness of a dirty secret.

Title: Lord of war
Year: 2005
Director: Andrew Niccol
Running time: 122 min.
Country: United States

Yuri Orlov has a double life: on one hand, Yuri is a successful business man. On the other, he is a arms dealer. Yuri tries to hide his criminal life from his wife who, maybe because she is too naive, or because she doesn't care, is not aware of the ruffian life of her husband.  Yuri keeps all his illegal possesions in a secret storage container. In the following pictures we can see the container location.

Mr. Yuri approaches his secret place.

Inside of it we can appreciate all kinds of artefacts and false documents.

It is known that in a marriage, all the secrets are revealed sooner or later. Unfortunately for Yuri, his wife starts to suspect and goes there to discover the container's contents. While Yuri's wife is trying to unlock the container door, we can see a pigeon that stands close to her. This pigeon is a silent witness of this drama and shortly after, leaves the area flying way.

The pigeon witnesses the discovering of Yuri's secret.

Details of the pigeon starring 

• Source: Lord of war  Starring moment: 1:35:33
• Pigeon activity: It is the typical pigeon that we can find in any city. 
• Symbolism: The pigeon is used to provide a more realistic urban atmosphere. I think that it is not achieved. Instead of this, a flock of active pigeons would provide more realism. 
• Relevance: None. It doesn't alter the movie plot.
• Training level: It is a non-well trained pigeon. Its performance is very bad because it seems to be very static and tense. Probably it doesn't understand what all these people are doing around and why they are pointing at it with these strange devices and lights. The presence of Bridget Moynahan doesn't contribute to easing the situation. All these facts contribute to unrealistic pigeon behaviour. This is called pigeon overacting. Mr. Andrew Niccol should be more careful the next time he films pigeons.