"Birdman" Review

Title: Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

Directed by: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu

Screenplay by: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Nicolas Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr., and Armando Bo

Year: 2014


I recall first watching the trailer for Birdman or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance with a friend of mine. When it ended he looked over to me and said "That movie is going to be a piece of shit." He could not have been more mistaken. Birdman is one of the most inventive and well-crafted films I have ever experienced.

There is no easy way to summarize Birdman, but essentially it is about former superhero movie star Riggan Thompson (Michael Keaton) who plans to direct his own broadway show in an attempt to add flavor into his life. Along the way he must deal with a hard-to-work-with actor (Edward Norton), his daughter (Emma Stone), his agent (Zach Galifianakis), and many other colorful characters while he also struggles to fight himself.

Right off the bat, Birdman impresses with its performances, cinematography, and original story. Birdman contains some of the best performances of the year and each of the main actors plays their part to absolute perfection. Michael Keaton gives a stellar performance, possibly because the film is partially about him. The similarities between Keaton and his character are striking and beyond coincidence. Both played superheroes in their prime, both ended their superhero careers in 1992, both have been relatively forgotten as the years passed, the list goes on. Keaton proves that he still has the chops to be one of the greatest actors working today, and hopefully this has breathed new life into his career. But to dismiss the rest of the cast would be a crime. Edward Norton plays what is essentially himself, an actor who is incredibly hard to work with. Norton is electric and impresses from the moment he makes his appearance. Keaton and Norton give what might very well be the best performances of their careers. Their chemistry is beyond magnificent and they bounce off of each other like a pinball does to bumpers.

Emma Stone gives a career defining performance as Riggan's daughter. Stone captures the attitude of the character on a realistic level and garners the audience's sympathy. I believe this single performance might have opened many doors for the young actress. Zach Galifianakis gives a standout performance in regards to his filmography. Galifianakis is well known for portraying the dumb, idiotic character in several comedies. Here, he portrays a high stressed but determined manager or agent and Riggan's close friend. Much like Stone, I believe Galifianakis might have allowed for new opportunities to diversify his film career. I could go on and on with the cast, but I am already repeating myself. Simply put, the cast is perfect and each performance is terrifically unique. Every character is interesting, colorful, and feeds into the plot. Not a single person is wasted.

The story is incredibly original (if a bit rooted in reality) and one of the better ones of the year. The story contains quite a number of plot lines, which contributes to the difficulty that comes with trying to summarize the film. It deals with a wide range of themes such as reality, change, duality, loss, redemption, and even existence, just to name a few. With such a staggering amount of ideas, it would be hard to imagine that it could possibly represent each efficiently. However, Birdman pulls off this Herculean task with a tremendous amount of ease and style.

Birdman brings up issues and concepts that are real and occurring in the entertainment industry. It brings up the fact that movie-going audiences today are mainly interested in big blockbusters with plenty of action and explosions, a notion that is all too true. It questions where that leaves independent filmmakers and if they have a place in the industry. The film brings up these concepts but it doesn't rub it in the face of the audience. It's not too subtle, and not too over the top. There is also a fantastic segment between Riggan and a theatre critic. The critic says she will give his play a bad review, just because she does not like him as a person. What follows is an absolutely terrific speech by Keaton that pretty much lists the issues with many critics. A reviewer's job is to be as unbiased as possible and a good one's job is to provide insightful analysis. It's a brilliant sequence and one of my personal favorites.

Time to address the elephant in the room: the cinematography. This is some of the greatest cinematography I have ever seen. What makes it so unique is that Birdman is filmed so that it appears as if it is all one continuous shot, similar to Hitchcock's Rope. The camera is dynamic and weaves its way through such an intricate set with remarkable fluidity. The scene transitions are seamless. It is impossible that the entire film was done in one take, given the time lapses, but the cuts are invisible. There are moments that look opportune for a cut, but we are never sure. Major props to the editors. At one point though, there comes a single cut and it leads into a montage with some very powerful imagery. The shot composition is stupendous and for a film that is presented in one take, that is saying a hell of a lot. Every frame tells a story. In Riggan's dressing room for example, on the window sill are a few photographs and what appears to be the statute head of a Buddha. The photographs show that he cherishes something, something he wants to see everyday and the Buddha head feeds into his meditation exercises. Also, on his mirror, he has a quote taped to it. It reads, "A thing is a thing, not what is said of that thing", which speaks on so many levels with respect to Riggan. The cinematography is as innovative and terrific as Gregg Toland's in Citizen Kane, which I often deem as "The King of Cinematography".

Let's talk about that score. Much like The Third Man, the musical score in Birdman uses but a single instrument (for the most part). Instead of the zither though, it uses the drums. The drum-only score is unique and fits the film all too well. The drums are always building up to something. I was always tapping my foot whenever the music came on. It's catchy, it pops, it has a good vibe, and it helps to define character interactions and arcs. This score helps make Birdman more of a standout film than it already is. There is also a single frame where we actually see the drummer and its inclusion in the film is a stroke of genius given the scene.

I could go on and on about the magnificence of Birdman, but I believe I've made my point. The performances are fantastic and required plenty of talent and effort, as the actors had to do many long takes. The cinematography by Emmanuel Lubezki is on the level of Stanley Kubrick. The score is fitting, the story is well written and original, Inarritu's direction is stellar, and the themes and topics brought up are done so very well. Birdman is not only the best film of the year so far, but perhaps one of the greatest movies ever made. A bold statement, but one I stand by wholeheartedly.

Grade: A+