The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill (2005)

[Edgy MD]

A documentary that follows a flock of wild parrots --- some escapees, some throwaways, and some natively hatched --- living in San Francisco, and the eccentric who looks after them.

[Edgy MD]

Anyhow, even though I chose this, I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. Enjoyed it from the opening scene, in which our harmless square peg of a protagonist patiently explains his relationship to the flock to a crowd of insuffereable San Franciscans. You tend to keep your guard up against him --- a jobless failed musician drifter friend of nature. But it becomes clear soon enough that he's on the level, and his stewardship of the flock is responsible and honorable and not some sort Californian self-glorifying eccentricity.

But there's a strange parallel --- they're wild birds, but non native, like him (he drifted down from Oregon), and subject to a naturalist criticism. And, like the birds, he's simultaneously fending for himself and depending on the kindness of others. Like the parrots in the flock that have been bred in the wild (against the odds), he may need a little kick to get out of the nest, despite the hawks circling overhead.

In the end, he confesses that he's as cynical as the rest of us, but will testify to the meaningfulness of his relationship to the flock despite knowing how stupid it makes him sound. Four stars out of five from me. Beautiful bunch of birds.

[RealityChuck]

Just a lovely film. I wrote about it last year.

It's one of the few documentaries with a surprise twist, too. And Connor is one of the most memorable characters in film.

[Edgy MD]

Yeah, I should have mentioned how well the birds come through as individual characters.

[Willets Point]

Whaddya know, I wrote about this movie too.