Review of The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill

Its not a particularly earth-shattering documentary but it is an interesting slice of life piece that explores the things that many people probably never notice in the world around them.

The last place many would expect to find a flock of exotic parrots is in the middle of San Francisco but director Judy Irving finds just this and a rather philosophical keeper of the birds that goes to great lengths to point out their wildness despite the fact that he feeds and names the members of his flock.

The film basically tells the story of that man's relationship with the birds only briefly interspersing it with man on the street interviews that touch on the mysterious origins of the flock and the (slightly) varied public opinion on the man and his brood.

This, of course, brings me to film's greatest shortcoming. While there is some interesting and surprisingly emotional stuff to be found in the story of the birds the film focuses mostly on their human counterpart. He is fleshed out a bit towards the end, but for most of the movie he simply comes off as a strange, rather unassuming and uninteresting coot. The film only goes as far as its protagonist lets it and, for the most part, he just wasn't that compelling. But, if you are willing to put up with his company for the majority of the film there is some fascinating stuff to be found on the parrots themselves.