Birdman - Movie Review

            

            

            

            

            There was a total of five people in the theater that was showing this film. It was opening night for Birdman in this theater. However, it was also opening night for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part I. People coming out of the theater showing that said it was full. There were four show times today for Birdman. There were twenty-five for The Hunger Games. It’s funny how this relates to one of the many things Birdman is about. One of many things, because there is so much more.

            Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) is about an actor, Riggan (Michael Keaton), who became very famous a decade or two ago when he stared as the title character in a popular superhero movie, Birdman. But since the Birdman franchise had crashed, he had become less and less famous. Now he is trying to make a comeback with a Broadway play he wrote, directed, and stared in. The film takes place as previews of the play are being debuted then actual showings happen.

            Emma Stone plays his daughter, Sam, who is battling a drug addiction is just now out of rehab. Zach Galifanakis plays Jake, Riggan’s assistant/agent. Naomi Watts plays Lesley, one of the main actresses in the play. Edward Norton plays Mike, an actor hired at the last second who is dealing with some issues and is very hard to work with. All of these characters are centered on around the play and have a part in conveying some of the ideas of the movie. But they are not just objects used for a theme; they are actual characters. They all have psychological problems they are fighting. That may contribute to the buildup to another theme, but it gives the characters depth, nonetheless.

            If could not tell by my A+ grade and nearly perfect rating, I loved every second of this movie. I think it probably is a masterpiece and is definitely one of the best films I’ve ever seen. Within seconds of it starting, it had me engaged, 100%, and I knew I was in for something special. I’ll start with the extraordinary directing job. Iñárritu’s style is magnificent. He tried to make most of the film seem like one shot, and it is accomplished through perfectly done editing. There are some very cool transitions in the editing, and these help engage the viewer even more. And the lack of any cuts at all during any of the scenes adds an odd feeling that makes this movie unlike any other. It is such an original movie both in story and style. There isn’t much out there that I can compare it to. It’s simply different.

            The direction also adds a striking realism to the film. Not only does it look great; not only is Iñárritu a master with the camera, he is also a master with his direction over the actors. The performances themselves and the script contributed to this, but the direction also plays a part in making every single scene seem like real conversation between real people, and not a staged scene in a movie. And another thing that’s great about the direction is the sense that every scene is important. The use of pans and zooms very much make it seem like many things are going on and the movie is constantly going at a fast pace. But it’s really not. However, the brilliant scene-to-scene structure in the script and the astonishing job done behind the camera make it a non-stop, always on, immensely entertaining picture.

            The dialogue is brilliant. Not only does it really help develop the characters and introduce themes without directly explain to the audience, it’s also simply realistic dialogue. It very much seems like in-the-moment dialogue that is quickly thought of by the characters instead of pre-written words on a page that actors read while standing in front of a camera. The plot is original and very interesting; the ideas and themes of the movie are introduced in the script very well for them to really be conveyed through visuals.

            Every single actor in the movie is absolutely terrific. From the second they were on the screen, I was amazed. It did not take long at all before I started seeing the characters instead of the actors. They are all fantastic in their roles.

            As the past paragraphs have stated, the execution of this movie is basically as good as it can be; everything is flawless. The performances, direction, overall look… and sound. The sound design of this movie is fantastic. There is one room with a clock on the wall. This room appears in the film many times, and every single time, through every single second of the scene, you can hear the clock in the background. The sound also contributes to the striking realism of the movie.

            With all that said, now we can get into some themes. This movie has a lot to say about general American audiences, but those are not themes because of their obviousness in the movie. They are said through dialogue. However, I’m glad it’s in the movie and very much agree with it. It serves more as a message to the main character than a theme to the movie.

            The plot, characters, and some dialogue contribute to the overall themes of the movie, but it’s mostly some images shown near the close of the film. There is some truly beautiful imagery that conveys something that cannot be conveyed with dialogue; only an image. We have a motif of admiration in the movie, and there are things on the flipside as well. The desire to be great, to feel important, to feel like you’re transcendent, also plays a role. The ideas mostly have to do with the admiration of all of the characters to be transcendent. The desires of humans and a way to look at life. But there is flipside: the ignorant. The movie is not called Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) for a reason. No one wants to be ignorant. But is there is a light in the situation. To not know may be best in some situations. The general American theater/film audience can be included in that area.

            There are many ideas that can be deciphered from the film; many people can look at it and see many different things. And I think that is the beauty in films like this: they become poetry, something that can be studied and looked at, something that can be analyzed. But this film is even more than that; it’s one of the best in modern films in terms of the making of it, the ingenuity behind it, all of the technical aspects. You pile up some messages and poetry on top and you have a great work of art that is among the best of all time.

            Of the mess of ideas I have tried to put together, I’ve found that the movie tells us that everyone has the admiration in them to want to be better. Everyone wants to be able to fly above everyone else and see that they’re better. But there are the ignorant that will stop that from happening. And ignorance can be a virtue in some situations. It can keep from knowing all that went into what you see before your eyes. It’s an unexpected virtue indeed, but a virtue nonetheless.