Birdy

Adapted from William Wharton’s novel the film is the haunting story of one man’s obsession and another’s stubborn loyalty and support. A young man (Matthew Modine), brought up in poverty, scarred on the battlefield takes refuge in the fantasy of flight. Roaming freely through dreams and reality, against vivid backdrops of back-street Philadelphia and front-line Vietnam, the beautiful, startling photography, atmospheric music by Peter Gabriel and masterful direction of Alan Parker combine to produce an unforgettable and powerful drama that won the Special Jury Grand Prix at Cannes. Also stars Nicholas Cage.

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Collection

In ACMI's collection

Credits

director

Allan Parker

producer

Alan Marshall

production company

A and M Films

Tri-Star Pictures

Duration

01:55:00:00

Production places

United States

Production dates

1984

Collection metadata

ACMI Identifier

302664

Language

English

Audience classification

MA

Subject categories

Adaptations

Armed Forces, Military, War & Weapons → Vietnam War, 1961-1975

Feature films

Feature films → Feature films - United States

Food, Health, Lifestyle, Medicine, Psychology & Safety → Insanity

History → History

Literature → American literature - Film and video adaptations

Literature → Literature

Sound/audio

Sound

Colour

Holdings

VHS; Access Print (Section 1)

Please note: this archive is an ongoing body of work. Sometimes the credit information (director, year etc) isn’t available so these fields may be left blank; we are progressively filling these in with further research.

Cite this work on Wikipedia

If you would like to cite this item, please use the following template: {{cite web |url=https://acmi.net.au/works/81562--birdy/ |title=Birdy |author=Australian Centre for the Moving Image |access-date=3 June 2023 |publisher=Australian Centre for the Moving Image}}

United States, 1984

Please note