This documentary about a bum and some birds exemplifies everything people either love or hate about San Francisco.
Bittner is middle-aged, has a gray ponytail that reaches down to his waist, and has been squatting free of charge for years in a small house in a neighborhood where one-bedroom apartments rent for $2,500. He's never held down a job, and makes do with handouts from private individuals, and of course, the government. But, in addition to his filthy hot plate, he does have an obsession: a flock of wild parrots that live in the area.
With nothing but free time on his hands, Bittner spends his days feeding the birds scrounged-up seed and fruit, giving them all names, and projecting his own feelings and dramas onto them. At one point, he nearly breaks down, wiping away tears, as he tells of one parrot he believes vainly sought him out for emotional comfort and then died after being ejected from his bed.
By the end of 83 minutes, Bittner is being evicted by a yuppie couple (his century-old house is nearly a tear-down), we've seen more footage of birds than a year's worth of KFC commercials, and we're left with a vision of a city that is either a haven for life's rejects or an ideal of tolerance and eccentricity. Or both.