to feel real.. to feel relevant.. to feel important..

Rating: 8/10 (16 May 2015)

::a true movie experience:: not your run-of-the-mill cinematography. transition is seamless and you just wonder how they move the camera around.
::on Hollywood:: this film is an obvious attack on the quality of contemporary movies and audience. being popular doesn't mean you live up the true definition of art. all these veiled heroes without facial expression and elaborate action sequence are ultimately meaningless and forgettable. birdman termed this as 'cultural genocide' and fundamentally produced without a soul. i cannot agree more.
::on existence:: i find this the most interesting theme in this film. where does reality really lie? are we only true to ourselves when we under the eyes of others? do we really spend our lives struggling to earn respect and validation? the lure of fame seems to grip us so tightly that we despaired to shake it off. this quiet desperation that resonates with the extreme insecurities of each character which manifest so clearly in suicide attempts, hangovers and mediocre anger management. at the end of the film, Riggan, with a deformed nose, admits that media attention is what he wants. but, deep in his voice, we can sense that he realises that it is not what he needs.
::on catharsis:: i found the ending scene immature but felicitous. the beginning scenes are dominated by cramped corridors. it is not difficult to emphathise with how constricted riggan feels. as he begins to heal, we witness expansion into open spaces and soaring above the sky. the last scene where sam looks up in ecstasy affirmed his purgation (it kinda reminds me of the resurrection of Christ). birdman was a stigma, an indelible scar, and an overdue baggage for riggan, which he finally bid farewell to.
shamefully, we have allowed the media to define what we are. we live our lives with labels, never tasting the essence. we easily conform to notions such as the need to grow up and the need to achieve something momentous in life. birdman can be considered a cautionary tale, warning us of how our vain pursuits will destroy us one day.