The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill

-Directed by: Judy Irving

Starring:
-Mark Bittner

I'm a Midwesterner, so this movie was first and foremost an educational kind of thing. It's a documentary so you see this coming. What I was pleasantly surprised by though is the loving and kind way this movie is presented. It tells the story, obviously, of Telegraph Hill which is in San Francisco. It's a place where all sorts of people and animals live, most importantly a flock of bright green wild parrots and a street musician named Mark Bittner.

I'm not going to white wash it. Bittner is a man with no visible means of support, but at the same time he winds up in an interesting position. He's the support system for these birds. You seem him hauling these massive bags of seed on the bus, and you watch as he figures out how to learn and in turn help this unique flock of birds. Through him, you begin to see the birds as he does. Every good animal lover and researcher has that unique quality though. Through him, you see the birds as individuals and when something happens to them it will tug at your heartstrings.

This movie does have some awfully sad moments, and there is some death among the flock. But it's done in an honest, almost sweet sort of way. I'm normally not a big weeper at movies though, and anything that will make me tear up is something really genuine indeed.


-Jenn Untch
Liberty, Missouri
indigojenn at earthlink dot net
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