Birdy (1984)

Matthew Modine: Birdy

Photos 

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Quotes 

• Birdy : I guess it's kinda hard to be good at something nobody wants, huh?

• Birdy : There's nothing in my life to keep me here anymore. I wish I could die and be born again as a bird.

• Birdy : Do you like pigeons?

  Sergeant Al Columbato : What's to like?

  Birdy : They fly.

  Sergeant Al Columbato : They fly. So what?

  Birdy : That's enough.

• [reaction to Al extolling the female breast] 

  Birdy : They're just like on a cow, but in a more stupid place.

• Birdy : Flying is much more than flapping wings. A bird can flap its wings and not move an inch then when it wants to fly the slightest flick of its wings sends it up against the sky. You have to feel that air has substance and can hold you up. It's mostly a matter of confidence.

• Birdy : You ever wondered what our lives down here must look like to a bird?

• [last lines] 

  Birdy : [to a surprised Al, who was expecting to see Birdy dead]  What?

• Birdy : Last night I flew. I really know what it feels like to fly.

  Sergeant Al Columbato : Oh, you flew? How you flew?

  Birdy : Well, I'm not sure. It's not something you can really take apart. When I fly, it's like in a dream. Only it's not a dream. The thing is, Al, you can't really put it into words. You just kind of have to feel it.

  Sergeant Al Columbato : You're telling me you can fly like a bird?

  Birdy : When I fly, Al... I am a bird.

  Sergeant Al Columbato : This is getting too weird, Birdy. You gotta stop it with this.

  Birdy : I thought if anybody would understand it would be you, Al.

  Sergeant Al Columbato : Well, I don't. I don't even wanna hear about it.

  Birdy : Why?

  Sergeant Al Columbato : Because I'm tired of it! We used to have fun together. Now you are always off by yourself flying around inside your goddamn head! I hope this dream or whatever it is goes away. I think it's bullshit.

• Birdy : In a dream, I'm trying to decide what I am. When I sleep I'm giving myself strength. I'm reaching for the force to fly. Perta waits, cups herself to receive me. I hover then lower myself into her. Perta and I become one. I see through her eyes, fly on her wings. I am no longer alone.

• Birdy : I'm starting to worry that I'll never really fly the way I've been going. As scary as a bird's life must be... at least they have that. They can always fly away.

• Birdy : It must be hard to be good at something nobody needs.

• Birdy : The dream is as real to me now as my waking life. I don't know where one begins and the other ends. I wish I could tell Al, but I'm afraid to. In my dreams, nothing holds me down. Everything's out and away. There's nothing in my life to keep me here anymore. I wish I could die and be born again as a bird.

• Birdy : Al, sometimes you're so full of shit.

• Sergeant Al Columbato : You ain't gonna fly any more than I could, Birdy.

  Birdy : The reason you couldn't fly, Al, is you don't believe you could fly.