Birdy is a 1984 American film directed by Alan Parker and starring Matthew Modine and Nicolas Cage. It is based on the novel of the same name by William Wharton. Two teenagers, Birdy and Al , become friends at school and serve in Vietnam. Birdy already has a disturbing fixation with birds and his Vietnam experiences push him over the edge: when he returns from the war, he is sent to a mental hospital for assessment and his friend Al stays with him to try to reach him before its too late and he'll be separated from Birdy, leaving him alone and lost inside his mind. As the story develops, many... flashback scenes show their life together as teenagers in 1960s America as well as their developing friendship and views of life. The film's soundtrack was written and performed by Peter Gabriel. The music contains some adaptations of tracks on Gabriel's third and fourth albums. The music makes heavy use of the Fairlight CMI IIx music computer, which was one of the first sampling systems. Peter Gabriel was one of the first customers of the Fairlight CMI IIx. The film received the Grand Prize of the Jury at the 1985 Cannes Film Festival.
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| Release date: | December 14, 1984 |
| Directed by: | Alan Parker |
| Rated: |  |
| Runtime: | 120 Minutes |
| Producer: | Ned Kopp, Alan Marshall, David Manson |
| Editor: | Gerry Hambling |
| Music by: | Peter Gabriel |
| Cinematography: | Michael Seresin |
| Screenplay by: | Sandy Kroopf, Jack Behr, William Wharton |
| Adapted from: | Birdy |