Dazzling Satire

Rating: 9/10 (30 January 2015)

Birdman pictures how celebrities deal with the mid-life of their careers, as they often try to win back their glory days, but struggles with their personal demons. The movie centers a man who is haunted by his past and seeking to transcend himself to a project where he can be respected. It is presented in one very long take on how he works in this particular stage play, while also being challenged by his personal life issues and his superhero role, as a pigment of his imagination, discouraging that he will never be as good as he was. Birdman is best described as magnificent, easily by its craft and terrific performances. It insanely presents this thespian's attempt of redemption and the conflict of cultural changes. It is often meant to be comical, but there's a strange value to that.
The movie doesn't always take itself seriously. Other than having a fantasy of being tormented by his iconic superhero role, the story often makes a joke about the industry, how today's view to true art is hardly valuable, and attention towards worn out careers gains better in controversies. It just keeps pushing the harshness to the main character until he completely lose his mind. This is a total satire, but the big picture here is Riggan's ego, the movie often explores that and his psychosis, and how it is messing with his career and his show. People would wonder why most of their conversations have to be too broad in drama and comedy, but then, this is about poking fun at this generation of fame, which is either meant to display humorous or awkwardly tragic.
The characters are excellently defined, although they're pretty much the most bitter and weirdest people you'd encounter on screen, but it's still entertaining when they attack each other by their words that can either be reasonable or not. It's the actors that brought the utter pizazz. This film might as well be for Michael Keaton, the actor's talent has been taken for granted lately and it takes for a prestige project like this to remember what he could actually deliver as an actor. Keaton lends a real character, making Riggan's constant insanity feel truly substantial than plain ridiculous, yet the emotions stay real when the scenario shifts to seriousness. The supporting cast is splendid as well, with Edward Norton brilliantly delivers something memorable out of his obnoxious method actor character. And Emma Stone surprises, especially in one scene where you can leave yourself nearly breathless.
For its filmmaking alone, the movie is sensational. Sure, the single, nearly endless take has been done by several movies before, but nothing goes this far like Birdman. But not only the camera-work that has gone beyond limits, the cinematography brings life and makes stunning shots in every angle. The movie just shoots these things like it's unimaginable, of course there are tricks to cover up the interconnected cuts, but it never matters since it already overwhelms by how it keeps it moving, from doors to hallways.
The film ends with a mystery, but we can easily see what all of that means. Birdman is just one grand satire that explains how difficult to appeal the modern audience if you belong in a different era of the industry when you were better. The movie embraces the whole ridicule, but the real impact belongs to its technical achievement, as it perfectly reflects what's going on, turning things into larger-than- life. It may get too crazy, but there's no exception how extremely entertaining the experience is.