Birdman (2014)

This week I finally got to see Birdman, which had been on my list for a while. I wasn’t able to see it before awards season, but I watched it clean up at awards shows finally going on to win Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Directing, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Cinematography. I absolutely agree Birdman deserved all of these accolades.

Birdman follows Riggan Thomson, faded Hollywood star of the once successful Birdman franchise as he tries to reinvent his life and his career by writing, directing, and starring in a Broadway play. The story takes place mostly in the theater in the days leading up to the opening night of the play, with one disaster after another happening during previews, in the creative process, and in Riggan’s personal life. He tries to reconnect with his estranged daughter who has recently been released from rehab, as well as manage a famous, volatile actor in his show all while trying to ensure a good review from a New York Times reporter on opening night, which would make or break his play. Meanwhile, Riggan is taunted by the voice of his previous alter-ego, Birdman, in his head and begins to see himself exhibiting powers of telekinesis.birdman

Birdman is unique in that it is filmed to appear as a one-take shot. Basically, it looks like the camera never cuts away from the action. Because of this, you feel as though you’re not just having a story told to you, but that you’re actually watching everything unfold before your eyes. This is appropriate considering the film is centered around a play, where one would experience a live action performance.

I can’t even begin to imagine how much of a challenge this must have been for filmmakers. Just think about how many camera cuts there are in a typical film. A simple conversation between two characters in any other film typically requires a cut for as many times each character speaks. While Birdman is not actually a 2-hour long continuous shot, there are certainly scenes that go on for an extended period of time, during which everyone, cast and crew, have to do everything perfectly. This speaks a lot for the actors, who also accomplished an incredible feat in delivering their lines and executing their choreography with hardly any room for mistakes, again like live-action theater.

I also thought that every actor was fantastic in his or her role. Michael Keaton played the character of Riggan, who is essentially a parody of himself as Keaton was part of the early Batman franchise. There were quite a few scenes where I felt like I was really with him and the emotion seemed almost tangible. Edward Norton portrayed Mike Shiner, the abrasive actor also starring in the play. This is likely another example of art imitating reality, as Norton is a notoriously difficult person to work with. Regardless, Norton seemed to steal every scene he was in with his unpredictability and intriguing demeanor. Riggan’s daughter, Sam, was Emma Stone who played the hot mess, ex-drug addict, angry child of a celebrity perfectly. Any scene she and Keaton shared together was powerful and great to watch.birdman-movie-clip-relevant-12423-large

I also appreciate the magical realism that the film incorporates. There are a few scenes with some fantastical elements that don’t quite fit in with the world that we’re shown, but once you just go with it, the movie becomes that much more entertaining and layered. The final thing that I really appreciated about Birdman was the music. Coupled with the continuous shot was  a constant drum accompaniment that kept up the rhythm and energy of the story and overall contributed a lot to the film. I was extremely disappointed to learn that not only did Birdman not win Best Score, but it didn’t even qualify to be nominated because it didn’t fit the Academy’s requirements for the category because of its use of classical music.

I absolutely think that Birdman was the best film of the year and director Alejandro González Iñárritu truly created an amazing film. Five stars from me!

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