Birdman: Or the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance (2014)
Director:
Alejandro Gonzalez Iñarritu
Cast: Michael Keaton, Emma Stone, Zach Galifianakis, Naomi
Watts, Edward Norton
I enjoy Alejandro Gonzalez Iñarritu films because of the
level of realism they have, they have immediacy to them that attracts me to them, they feel
like 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),
a film that tells five stories that are all connected by one catastrophic car
accident, an idea that Paul Haggis borrowed heavily from for his film Crash (2004).
Amores Perros is shot in this hyper realistic documentary style that just blows
me away every time I see it, actually all of Iñarritu’s films are shot this
way which is what I like about them. So anyways, I always look forward to Iñarritu’s
films, because he is one of those few directors with a pitch perfect record, he
hardly ever makes a disappointing film. The only time I wasn’t blown away by
one of his films was with Babel (2006), and even that film has its merits. Iñarritu’s
the kind of director that even when he makes a “bad” film, it’s still good. When
I heard about Birdman I was immediately attracted to it because of its premise,
I thought it was a novel idea, but I have to admit I was more than a bit
curious as to what Iñarritu was going to say with this film. What would it be
about?
Birdman is all about Riggan, an aging actor trying to gain
the respect of an audience that has forgotten all about him. You see, at one
point in his life Riggan was the biggest star on the planet when he starred in
a series of comic book films called Birdman; a series of films about a super
hero with wings, which by the way is a pretty cool looking character. Point is
Riggan stopped making Birdman movies and is now fading away from the spotlight.
His plan to regain the audiences approval and attention is putting on a play
called ‘What we talk about when we talk about love’. When the movie begins, the play is days away
from premiering in a theater in New York City and he is all kinds of nervous
looking for a new actor to take the lead role. Will he get to premiere his play
successfully? Does he still have what it takes? Will the audience accept him
once again?
Various elements make Birdman one of the best films of 2014,
but let’s start with its obvious technical prowess. Here’s a film shot in a way
that makes it look like its one long continuous shot, and though this might fly
undetected by the common moviegoer, those with a more keen sense of observation
will realize just how difficult it is to make a film this way. The big problem
is that when an actor messes up a line, you have to start filming the shot all
over again. Also, shooting a film with long continuous shots proves difficult
in the editing room, because through editing you can establish certain beats in
the rhyme of the visuals and the storytelling, you can even add comedy through
editing, but if it’s all one continuous shot, things become just a little more
demanding. Performances and shots have to be incredibly well choreographed and
timed in order for this technique to work well, so this is why I applaud Iñarritu
for achieving this technique so well. Alfonso
Cuaron also used this technique effectively in Gravity (2013). And it’s not
that they don’t ever cut, they do, but the cuts are placed in a way that you
hardly notice them, and they are very few. Entire sequences will go on and on
and on without cutting, it’s quite amusing for those interested in filmmaking.
It certainly makes things more demanding for everyone involved. Some shots are
amazing, keep your eyes peeled for them, there’s quite a few of them.
Iñarritu directs a scene
Another area in which this film excels is in its themes, you
see this is one of those films that’s about film. It’s not unlike Hugo (2011),
The Big Picture (1989) or Shadow of the Vampire (2000), which are films that
explore the nature of filmmaking both from the filmmakers view point and from
the actors view point. On Birdman filmmaking is explored from the point of view
of the actors, it’s all about the never changing fact that “Hollywood takes you
in, chews you up and then spits you out”. There’s a reason why that saying hasn’t
faded away and it’s because it still remains true. Hollywood caters to the
young, the beautiful, the ‘now’, what’s in and what’s hot is what matters. You
get old, suddenly you’re not getting as many roles as you used to. The movie
addresses this idea that in Hollywood, unless you become a raging icon to the
masses, you are more than likely going to fade away, quietly into the night.
And sometimes that “fading away” ain’t a pretty sight because it’s hard for
actors to let go of the fame and the spotlight. The film focuses on that
frustrating moment when the actor simply doesn’t like the fact that he or she is
no longer “popular”. What makes things even more interesting is the fact that
Michael Keaton used to play a comic book character himself, same as the
character in Birdman. It’s no wonder Keaton’s performance rings so true, I’m
sure a lot of his own frustrations were channeled into his performance, because
while Keaton has never stopped working, he isn’t as popular as he was when he
made Batman (1989) or Bettlejuice (1988). There’s this amazing moment when
Riggan is locked out of the theater by mistake and he’s in his underwear, the
scene comments on how acting is a very vulnerable profession, you expose your
soul to others through your performance, so I loved the metaphor there, an
actor desperately baring his naked soul to his audience, humanity, the masses. You
can expect a real heartfelt performance from Keaton. Could the critical success
of Birdman spell a comeback for Keaton? It certainly feels like it, from what I
hear, he’s gonna be reuniting with Tim Burton for Beetlejuice 2 next! It will
be interesting to see how they make that one work after so many years have
passed.
The film also speaks about how aging actors have to adjust
to the changing of the times, and the way things are marketed nowadays. For
example, there’s a moment when a video of Riggan becomes popular on You Tube
and is ‘trending’ and his daughter shows him how many people have viewed it and
tells him “this is power”, a fact that Riggan is completely clueless about. The
film also talks about how a lot of Hollywood films are aimed at a young
audience and that what the masses love is action, blood, explosions and special
effects. Which is true, just ask Michael Bay and Roland Emmerich. The masses
don’t want “philosophical bullshit” and the filmmakers behind Birdman are
obviously frustrated by this. I agree
with them to a certain extent, because while I enjoy big fx spectacles, I also
love brainy, artistic films. In my book there’s space for both types of films;
the escapist summer movies as well as the more philosophical, story driven
films. But of course, what the masses like, which is to say what the grand
majority likes is brainless action and effects like the next Transformers movie,
this in turn speaks volumes about the kind of people that make up the majority,
which in turns is a sad state of affairs. When we get down to it, I think what
the filmmakers behind Birdman are really frustrated with is the level of
education of the majority, in other words, if we’re to read between the lines, there’s
a genuine frustration with how many brainless zombies exist in the world. So
yes my friends, we have an amazing film here, certainly deserving of being
called one f the best of the year and one that I’m sure will garner Michael
Keaton an Oscar nod, and quite possibly an Oscar win, here’s hoping.
Rating: 5 out of 5
