There doesn’t seem to be a lot of excitement surrounding the release of DC’s upcoming film Birds of Prey (And The Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn). Whenever the movie is brought up, it’s followed by a wave of moans and groans. But there are a good amount of DC fans who are excited and hope that it will be good.
During a recent interview with /Film, the director of the film, Cathy Yan, talked about the films that influenced Birds of Prey and cites films like Pulp Fiction, Rashomon, and The Professional:
“Yeah, I mean, there’s a lot of influences on the film. I mean, the way that I sort of talked about the structure of the film is a bit like Pulp Fiction meets Rashomon. So it’s an unconventional structure. For me, there’s a lot of my favorite filmmakers that have influences on this film, so like Tarantino, obviously. The Professional for sure, especially the relationship between Harley and Cass. We actually have a few like, oh I guess I would say like odes to certain films in the movie. Watch out for that. And then also just – we also, visually, I think very much influenced by A Clockwork Orange as well. And that and like the Milk Bar. The Black Mask Club has a lot of that. The female figures, I’ve been kind of reinterpreting that. The Mod style, the ’70s era. We really tried to make this film look like nothing that you’ve seen from a superhero movie before. And really ground it in a reality and in some of the films that I’ve loved through the years, yeah.”
In a separate interview the film’s producer Sue Kroll teased that Harley’s twisted and demented perspective will be “where the spirit of the movie comes from”:
‘“Well, we want you to be surprised, but what we can say is Harley obviously is very unique, right? Her point of view on the world is very specific. So imagine that you are looking at the world through her eyes and her rationale and reason. And that’s what we’ll be offering up to you. So it’s fun. I mean, that’s where the spirit of the movie comes from. But you get a lot more dimension to Harley now, because you’ve seen her in Suicide Squad but this is a movie where we really explore a lot more about her and I think you’ll be surprised.”
Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn hits theaters on February 7, 2020. I also included a couple of new posters for the film below:
Here’s the synopsis for Birds of Prey:
Since the events of Suicide Squad, Batman has disappeared, leaving Gotham City unprotected from crime, and Harley Quinn has left the Joker. When Cassandra Cain, a young girl, comes across a diamond belonging to crime lord Black Mask, Harley joins forces with Black Canary, Huntress, and Renee Montoya to help protect her.