Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu (2014) | 5/5 Birdman: or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) The stage is set. We see a beach peppered with jellyfish. A fireball raining from a dark and cloudy sky. Floating above the ground cross-legged, we meet Riggan (Michael Keaton). Already, you can tell this train is off of any kind of preordained “track." To hell with tracks. Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s brilliant Birdman defies just about every rule and then takes it a step further, mocking this superhero-driven movie culture that we have all helped to create. Our protagonist, Riggan, is a washed up movie star who got famous playing a superhero named Birdman. After turning down a third sequel, Riggan slipped into movie star purgatory. Thus follows years of drinking, poor parenting, and not being taken seriously. Finally, Riggan has had enough and decides to prove his creative worth by writing, directing, and starring in an adaptation of Raymond Carver's short story "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love.” This is where we begin the story. Believe me, you want to see where it ends. Riggan must overcome his ego, deal with even bigger egos (Edward Norton), reconnect with his daughter (Emma Stone), and deal with the possibility of being a father again with a fellow cast member (Andrea Riseborough), all while keeping his sanity and what is left of his hair. If you have not caught on so far, this is satire. Riggan’s scheme of artistic credibility is echoed by so many real life scenarios of stars wanting to prove their salt (and possibly trying a mite too hard in the process). Shia LaBeouf, anyone? This may be a side effect to overexposure to Michael Bay. End of Aside. Can anyone take them seriously? Can they take themselves seriously? Birdman is satire, but it is also much more. It is also a technical marvel of the highest order, just as impressive as last year’s Gravity - another one of cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki’s creations. Birdman is made to look like it was filmed continuously as a single shot. With the exception of a couple obvious cut-aways, Iñárritu and Lubezki pull this off in seamless beauty with a cast that is more than up for his challenge. Filming in such long takes requires highly choreographed, well rehearsed scenes. Imagine being ten minutes into a take and you forget a line. A simple mistake can lead to a entire reshoot of the scene. Norton, Stone, Riseborough, Naomi Watts, and a reserved Zach Galifianakis - who supposedly messed up the least takes - all live up to and deliver on par with Iñárritu’s ambition. The final standing ovation would have to go to the film’s shining star, Michael Keaton. It is impossible to ignore the parallels between Keaton’s real-life experience with Batman and Riggan’s dilemma. I believe Keaton when he says he has never been more different from a character, but his past makes the character of Riggan that much more powerful - and I think this is exactly what his director wanted. Even without Keaton’s heroic resume, this is a role of a lifetime for him, above and beyond the greatest work he has ever given. He manages to make the character sympathetic, loathsome, hilarious, clueless, and revelatory, sometimes all in the same scene. Keaton weaves through every frame demolishing all around him. If the Academy has any sense, we will be hearing much more of Birdman as the year progresses. |
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Jordan JamesArchives
January 2016
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