People and animals coexist in relative harmony and that existence is much more intimate than we would outwardly realize. As humans, we are likened unto animals in many areas, namely religion and then literature as metaphors. As a child and a Buddhist, we were admonished to observe nature, to learn from it. Such is this work. As people, we are compelled by our various paradigms to follow a path; that somehow no matter the circumstance, that it is our fate. But life is more than existence. It's about living and experiencing things outside that paradigm we chain ourselves to. Gary in sort of a "Matrix" moment makes a red pill decision to screw it all, no matter the consequences. His life is changed in the extreme, leaving his job, his wife, even his children to explore a new life free from the chains of fateful expectation. In the process, in a parallel experience, Audrey feels the pull of destiny as well, from her mundane part in the same world. In a twist of that "fate," she is transformed into a sparrow to view the world from a different perspective to awake the destiny that awaits her if she is courageous to face it. As a sparrow, she is still challenged and threatened by a cat and owl as she would as a human if they were people. She also experienced the freedom of flying as a way of breaking her routine to experience the magic of arbitrary choices and hence meet new people and the substance they might bring to her. This film is full of wonderful expressions of that substance and magic in an amazing way. In the end, she is emboldened by her experience to cross paths to finally meet Gary, two people who decided in their own way to free themselves from their previous prisons to maybe walk a new path together. As for me, a guy who would rather watch a zombie or action flick, this work of art makes me want to reanalyze my priorities as well. If there is any negative feedback to this expression of ideas, it simply means that some of us are still chained to our paradigms and given to fate rather than be an instrument of destiny. Well done to the makers and the actors. This is a diamond in the rough I thoroughly enjoyed.
Review of Bird People
