Birdman
Director: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
Cast Michael Keaton, Edward Norton, Emma Stone, Naomi Watts
Original Release Date: October 17th, 2014
Birdman is a very dark dramedy directed by Alejandro
Gonzalez Inarrituu starring Michael Keaton as Riggan Thomson. The character, an
actor, who made a name through the superhero Birdman in a series of blockbuster
films but is now a c-lister trying to create something “meaningful” through
Broadway. This meta-aspect and its relation to Keaton’s career raise the stakes
even more so. The movie could work as a biography. But it’s much more than that
The difference between our Keaton and his role as Riggan
is that he’s absolutely insane. The film has a hefty dose of the bizarre and
surreal. Riggan floats in the air as he meditates in and uses telekinesis in
his spare time. There is also the brilliant struggle of the jerk demonic voice
of Birdman himself in his head which makes the struggle he faces all the more hilariously
intense.
The film defies expectations and plays with the audience
at several turns. Plot lines are interspersed with shocking twists whether the
effect is one of laughter or gasping. The play “doesn’t go as planned” and it feels
as if one is right along with the in-film audience as they are surprised. This
diegeticness also comes about brilliantly through the groovy jazz score as it snakes
its way constantly in the background. Several times the drum hits are shown to be coming from a
drummer around a corner and the volume adjusts.
Little touches like this exemplify Inarritu’s delicate touch.
But as a character says I’ve just been using in my review
“labels, labels, labels” as in Broadway.
This is a movie about intricate characters that make Riggan seem normal.
Zach Galifinakis does a great dramatic
turn as his high maintenance assistant Jake. Emma Stone is his just-out-of rehab
daughter. Naomi Watts and Andrea
Riseborough as his equally distressed co-stars Lesley and Laura. Each cast member delivers an incredible
performance and there’s some great
interplay between each of them. No one
is really a “minor character” in this.
But the absolute shining star who brings a nuance to
match Keaton’s is Edward Norton as Broadway mega star Mike Shiner. Norton is
here with his often-used antagonistic charisma which correlates with Shiner. Shiner seeks to tell stories of “complex
human emotion” and ridicules Keaton for his career choices. This may perhaps this is another
meta-critique of modern blockbuster cinema. The friction between the two makes for some
of the best scenes in the film.
Each moment is magnified by the fact that the camera is
constantly moving. The unique cinematography is accomplished by having a camera
“float” close up to the actors at all times.
Like the music there is never a second of “visual silence.” However, this is one of the small negatives from making the film perfect. The fact that it zooms so in on Keaton’s face
can make things uncomfortably claustrophobic at times.
The other point of detraction is some of the reality
bending moments towards the end. It’s
massively cool for the film to acknowledge the Avengers , Robert Downey Jr, and
the popcorn-like existing within its world. But when a moment happens latter
where Riggan imagines what it’d be like to be in a modern blockbuster the CGI
is not the best. This may also be intentional
but it’s jarring when compared to the rest of the expert visual production.
Overall most of the laughs in Birdman come from how
pathetic and backstabbing its characters are. It’s so depressing one can’t help
but snicker. But we cheer on these corrupt actors as their lives spiral out of
control around them. There’s a tale of Riggan Thomson being the last of the
Hollywood old guard who hasn’t sold out to do more action reboots, but its lost
in a swirling darkness of confusion.
This hypnotic tone makes for a compelling argument and a amazing film.
9.8 out of 10
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