BIRDLAND – a film by Peter Lynch – SPOILERS ⁓
Police Detective Sheila Hood (Kathleen Munroe) suspects her ornithologist husband Tom Kale (David Alpay) is up to something. (She knows not what.) Sheila unofficially borrows police surveillance equipment, and watches him have an affair with Merle James (Melanie Scrofano), who is, in turn, the girlfriend of misogynistic gangster Ray Starling (Joris Jarsky). Merle, whose name comes from the latin word for “blackbird” is the rebellious, eco-activist daughter of cynical, self-serving oil magnate John James (Stephen McHattie). “People need oil. They demand oil,” says Mr. James. “Those who provide are the anointed, and those who don’t appreciate it can go fuck themselves.” Merle’s mother is never mentioned. Presumably she didn’t sufficiently appreciate it. The appellative similarity to John James Audubon could be coincidental.
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