"In Sjöberg's more personal films men and women are led bytheir instincts and respond positively to temptations. They are anxiousnot to be affected by social conventions. Wild Birds is a kind ofpurified Torment?" (Peter Cowie) A young sailor, Nisse, wanderingthe docks in a drunken stupor, is taken in hand by a prostitute andlured into the activities of a band of petty criminals. He meets amiddle-class girl, Lena, who falls in love with Nisse while herfiancé is at sea The story of young people hoping to evade theirplace in the social strata by crossing class lines in (doomed) love haslinks with Iris and the Lieutenant and The Last Couple Out, not tomention the sexual/class machinations of Miss Julie. Wild Birds wasmarred, according to critics, by its long stretch toward tragedy, butthe atmosphere of a quayside petty underworld, and some extraordinaryset-pieces of erotic frenzy, permeate the film, giving particular impactto the theme of love that is "swift, violent, and beautiful"(Variety).