Review of Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014) by Derek D — 06 Sep 2015

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu arrives with his latest film, which partly acts as a satire on the current state that films are in with big, loud box office projects from various directors, while bringing it home to a time of more character driven, smaller films.

This film focuses on a washed up actor, Riggan Thomson, who is well known for playing the superhero Birdman in several films. He plans on restarting his career by mounting the play What We Talk About When We Talk About Love, written by Raymond Carver. He has not only written it, but is also directing and starring in it. After a light fixture falls during rehearsal onto one of the co-stars, Riggan is forced to bring in method actor Mike Shiner to replace the actor, while Shiner attempts to steal the spotlight from Riggan at times.

The film is a ground breaking achievement, which perfectly pokes fun at the current state of Hollywood and how films are being approached as big, loud box office films.

The cast is terrific, in particular Michael Keaton. Keaton brings a real sense of disaster to the role of Riggan, who is at his breaking point, attempting to get the play on Broadway successfully, but also trying to rejuvenate his career. Like his character, Keaton is also well-known for depicting a superhero on screen: Batman, in the two Tim Burton directed films, Batman and Batman Returns. This further allows Keaton to be relatable to the character, while it also seems to help him bring a sense of realism at times to his role. Emma Stone does a great job as Riggan's daughter, a recovering drug addict who takes on the role of assistant on her father's play. Stone is fantastic, working well with Keaton and Edward Norton in several scenes. Naomi Watts and Andrea Riseborough are also perfect as actresses appearing in the play, as is Amy Ryan as Riggan's former wife. Lindsay Duncan puts forth a cold performance as an antagonistic theatre critic, while Zach Galifianakis puts forth a break out performance as Riggan's lawyer, in his first dramatic performance. The other real standout in the film, next to Keaton, is Edward Norton, who plays the volatile method actor Mike Shiner. Norton is outstanding, going to the limit, at times stealing scenes and even in a few putting forth a comedic tone, such as in a notable scene where he and Naomi Watts emerge from a bed, Norton with a large erection, which is not only unexpected, but also comical. The character is partly similar to Norton, who like Norton, is difficult to work with, even going to extremes to get his performance right. Like with Keaton, this helps Norton brings a sense of realism and grit to his performance.

As usual Emmanuel Lubezki's cinematography is flawless, very beautiful. Here, the entire film is presented as one long take, which required up to fifteen to twenty minutes of a scene to be filmed in one take. While the film wasn't shot as one long take, the shooting structure, constant rehearsing and editing techniques help it appear like a single long take, which is not only flawless, but also supports the film. Throughout the entire film, it never feels like a gimmick, it really does support it, while it is also something to be admired.

The drum score, by Antonio Sanchez, is also remarkable, at times unsettling, but also at times calm, bring a great sense of jazz to the entire film. The score supports many of the characters, their actions and the plot.

The end result is a film that perfectly honors character driven, small films, while also honoring at times the golden days of filmmaking. It also acts as a wonderful, satirical thesis on the matter that most of these big, dull, senseless, loud box office films have taken over audiences (for example those by Michael Bay) and have started to overshadow the more well thought out, character driven films that don't always need to rely on senseless, loud action with no clear plot in mind.

When the film ends, you feel like you have seen not only a great film, but a film by a true genius.