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nBirdman: Or the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance (2014)
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nDirector:nAlejandro Gonzalez Iñarritu
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nCast: Michael Keaton, Emma Stone, Zach Galifianakis, NaominWatts, Edward Norton
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nI enjoy Alejandro Gonzalez Iñarritu films because of thenlevel of realism they have, they have immediacy to them that attracts me to them, they feelnlike real life and not like many of today’s color filtered, fake looking films. If you don’t believe me go rent Amores Perros (2000),na film that tells five stories that are all connected by one catastrophic carnaccident, an idea that Paul Haggis borrowed heavily from for his film Crash (2004).nAmores Perros is shot in this hyper realistic documentary style that just blowsnme away every time I see it, actually all of Iñarritu’s films are shot thisnway which is what I like about them. So anyways, I always look forward to Iñarritu’snfilms, because he is one of those few directors with a pitch perfect record, henhardly ever makes a disappointing film. The only time I wasn’t blown away bynone of his films was with Babel (2006), and even that film has its merits. Iñarritu’snthe kind of director that even when he makes a “bad” film, it’s still good. WhennI heard about Birdman I was immediately attracted to it because of its premise,nI thought it was a novel idea, but I have to admit I was more than a bitncurious as to what Iñarritu was going to say with this film. What would it benabout?
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nBirdman is all about Riggan, an aging actor trying to gainnthe respect of an audience that has forgotten all about him. You see, at onenpoint in his life Riggan was the biggest star on the planet when he starred inna series of comic book films called Birdman; a series of films about a supernhero with wings, which by the way is a pretty cool looking character. Point isnRiggan stopped making Birdman movies and is now fading away from the spotlight.nHis plan to regain the audiences approval and attention is putting on a playncalled ‘What we talk about when we talk about love’. When the movie begins, the play is days awaynfrom premiering in a theater in New York City and he is all kinds of nervousnlooking for a new actor to take the lead role. Will he get to premiere his playnsuccessfully? Does he still have what it takes? Will the audience accept himnonce again?
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nVarious elements make Birdman one of the best films of 2014,nbut let’s start with its obvious technical prowess. Here’s a film shot in a waynthat makes it look like its one long continuous shot, and though this might flynundetected by the common moviegoer, those with a more keen sense of observationnwill realize just how difficult it is to make a film this way. The big problemnis that when an actor messes up a line, you have to start filming the shot allnover again. Also, shooting a film with long continuous shots proves difficultnin the editing room, because through editing you can establish certain beats innthe rhyme of the visuals and the storytelling, you can even add comedy throughnediting, but if it’s all one continuous shot, things become just a little morendemanding. Performances and shots have to be incredibly well choreographed andntimed in order for this technique to work well, so this is why I applaud Iñarritunfor achieving this technique so well. AlfonsonCuaron also used this technique effectively in Gravity (2013). And it’s notnthat they don’t ever cut, they do, but the cuts are placed in a way that younhardly notice them, and they are very few. Entire sequences will go on and onnand on without cutting, it’s quite amusing for those interested in filmmaking.nIt certainly makes things more demanding for everyone involved. Some shots arenamazing, keep your eyes peeled for them, there’s quite a few of them.
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nIñarritu directs a scene
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nAnother area in which this film excels is in its themes, younsee this is one of those films that’s about film. It’s not unlike Hugo (2011),nThe Big Picture (1989) or Shadow of the Vampire (2000), which are films thatnexplore the nature of filmmaking both from the filmmakers view point and fromnthe actors view point. On Birdman filmmaking is explored from the point of viewnof the actors, it’s all about the never changing fact that “Hollywood takes younin, chews you up and then spits you out”. There’s a reason why that saying hasn’tnfaded away and it’s because it still remains true. Hollywood caters to thenyoung, the beautiful, the ‘now’, what’s in and what’s hot is what matters. Younget old, suddenly you’re not getting as many roles as you used to. The movienaddresses this idea that in Hollywood, unless you become a raging icon to thenmasses, you are more than likely going to fade away, quietly into the night.nAnd sometimes that “fading away” ain’t a pretty sight because it’s hard fornactors to let go of the fame and the spotlight. The film focuses on thatnfrustrating moment when the actor simply doesn’t like the fact that he or she isnno longer “popular”. What makes things even more interesting is the fact thatnMichael Keaton used to play a comic book character himself, same as thencharacter in Birdman. It’s no wonder Keaton’s performance rings so true, I’mnsure a lot of his own frustrations were channeled into his performance, becausenwhile Keaton has never stopped working, he isn’t as popular as he was when henmade Batman (1989) or Bettlejuice (1988). There’s this amazing moment whennRiggan is locked out of the theater by mistake and he’s in his underwear, thenscene comments on how acting is a very vulnerable profession, you expose yournsoul to others through your performance, so I loved the metaphor there, annactor desperately baring his naked soul to his audience, humanity, the masses. Youncan expect a real heartfelt performance from Keaton. Could the critical successnof Birdman spell a comeback for Keaton? It certainly feels like it, from what Inhear, he’s gonna be reuniting with Tim Burton for Beetlejuice 2 next! It willnbe interesting to see how they make that one work after so many years havenpassed.
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nThe film also speaks about how aging actors have to adjustnto the changing of the times, and the way things are marketed nowadays. Fornexample, there’s a moment when a video of Riggan becomes popular on You Tubenand is ‘trending’ and his daughter shows him how many people have viewed it andntells him “this is power”, a fact that Riggan is completely clueless about. Thenfilm also talks about how a lot of Hollywood films are aimed at a youngnaudience and that what the masses love is action, blood, explosions and specialneffects. Which is true, just ask Michael Bay and Roland Emmerich. The massesndon’t want “philosophical bullshit” and the filmmakers behind Birdman arenobviously frustrated by this. I agreenwith them to a certain extent, because while I enjoy big fx spectacles, I alsonlove brainy, artistic films. In my book there’s space for both types of films;nthe escapist summer movies as well as the more philosophical, story drivennfilms. But of course, what the masses like, which is to say what the grandnmajority likes is brainless action and effects like the next Transformers movie,nthis in turn speaks volumes about the kind of people that make up the majority,nwhich in turns is a sad state of affairs. When we get down to it, I think whatnthe filmmakers behind Birdman are really frustrated with is the level ofneducation of the majority, in other words, if we’re to read between the lines, there’sna genuine frustration with how many brainless zombies exist in the world. Sonyes my friends, we have an amazing film here, certainly deserving of beingncalled one f the best of the year and one that I’m sure will garner MichaelnKeaton an Oscar nod, and quite possibly an Oscar win, here’s hoping.
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nRating: 5 out of 5
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