MovieChat Forums > The Killing (1956) Discussion > Death scene ruined by talking parrot

Death scene ruined by talking parrot

posted 13 years ago by edwardholub
13 replies | jump to latest

I can't help it. Everyone involved obviously busted their hump to make the death scene of Sherry and George good, but why ruin it with funny parrot talk? I crack up laughing every time I see this. George is breathing is last breaths and he's holding onto the bird cage for support and the parrot says something like, "Uh-oh, be careful. Uh-oh." It breaks the mood of the scene. Couldn't Kubrick have just made the parrot sqwak instead? Opinions?

There is no "off" position on the genius switch.

[–] robhiphop 12 years ago

The scene is deliberately intended as black comedy. Juxtaposing the horrific with the comic to create an off key effect is fairly common in the cinema, and to Kubrick in particular. David Lynch, Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino are other directors who have gotten good mileage out of this trope.

The scene might be read as a crude forerunner to Alex De Large raping and murdering to the tune of "Singing in the Rain" in A Clockwork Orange, or even to HAL singing "Daisy" as he slowly dies in 2001.

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[–] edwardholub 12 years ago

Check, please. I was not laughing during the Singin' in the Rain rape scene and I was not laughing while Hal was singing Daisy.....though, they're both very good, surreal touches in the films.

There is no "off" position on the genius switch.

[–] franzkabuki 12 years ago

Yeah, the Daisy song may have been a jolly one in its original form, but when HAL´s singing it, it´s just... sad. Not really the kind of topical juxtaposition of moods.

"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan

[–] robhiphop 12 years ago

Need you be laughing out loud for a scene to contain comic overtones? Any horror movie aficianado worth his salt will tell you that there is often black comedy to be found in grotesquerie, even if buried deeply. The point is, Kubrick is playing more than one note in an effort to make the scene more striking, more perverse. The talking parrot puts an absurdist touch on George's death. The juxtaposition of moods is obviously employed to more disturbing effect in A Clockwork Orange than it is in The Killing, but the fundamental concept is the same.

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[–] tbx5959 12 years ago

Bingo, all 3 scenes mentioned are comedic. The scene would be lacking without it and would just be another tormented person shoots tormentor scene. Poor wormy guy gets abused even as he's trying to snatch a modicum of his respect back

[–] spookyrat1 10 years ago

Poor wormy guy gets abused even as he's trying to snatch a modicum of his respect back

The parrot giving him a mouthful was the cream on the cake of that scene.🐭

[–] Hey_Sweden 12 years ago

It definitely does give the scene an "off key" quality.

What do you think this is, a signature? It's a way of life!

[–] 12 years ago

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[–] 12 years ago

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[–] hammer4 10 years ago

It does seem incongruous, but of course that was the intention. I think the scene was captured well, but I don't think a dying person would utter a wisecrack line as she did.

[–] steelysunshine 9 years ago

I liked the parrot in the scene. It added a touch of reality IMO. Real life happens like that you don't get edits in real life and if you have a parrot well serious things can happen and the parrot is going to say things that might not match the seriousness of the event. Plus, I worried about the parrot getting found before it was too traumatized by not having people to take care of it.

[–] bregund 8 years ago

I like to chalk it up as an early example of Kubrick's absurdity and weirdness. He had to throw something bizarre in there, and the fake parrot thing fits beautifully, the whole scene is black comedy gold. It actually works.

[–] jthemanjj 8 years ago

Holy sh*t, what a coincidence - I just watched this movie after seeing this news report yesterday about a parrot being a witness to a murder where it could be heard mimicking the victim/shooter and repeating "Don't fu*king shoot".....sounds like I'm trying to be funny but here's the story.

Link

http://www.nbcnews.com/dateline/parrot-mimicking-murder-n586341

First time I've ever seen this movie and the parrot scene comes up less the 24 hrs from me seeing a story of a parrot being present & a witness in a male/female murder scene......LOL...it's not very often a coincidence like that ever happens.....it was kind of freaky and I felt like I was in some kind of parallel dimension.