Birdman is revolutionary and Awful Fun

Rating: 10/10 (18 October 2015)

Birdman is revolutionary in every aspect of its filmmaking. Even looking past the technical achievements, I found the film to mostly focus on bringing out multiple themes revolving around life, self dilution, modern media, human relationships, and entertainment as a whole. The use of long monologues and stretched scene duration meant to imitate a performance of a stage production are like nothing seen in cinema in recent years. Although the film seems to become preachy and pretentious at moments, it didn't take away from the cinematic experience. This film in moments acts as a showcase of Michael Keaton's acting talent in this performance of Riggan Thomson, a washed up actor trying to reclaim some of his former glory. The plot and strong characters of this film are extremely engaging and sit in your mind for hours after first watching the film. There are so many different ways to approach the actual interpretation of the movie's themes and symbolism in representing modern life. The manifestation of confusion that takes over in your first viewing is taken over by a thrilling joy in every viewing that follows because of the brilliant directing, writing, acting, cinematography, and score. The score, made up almost entirely of a percussive track at points makes the dialogue of the characters appear to be expressed as though it is powerfully written poetry, strongly coordinated with the rhythm of the drums. This is my favorite film of 2014 and I strongly recommend it to anyone who would appreciate a more experimental film about the entertainment industry and the human ego.