Spectacular, Unique, Intense from beginning to end

Rating: 10/10 (14 February 2015)

What is a masterpiece in cinema? This word is often used when defining a great movie, but for a movie like Birdman this label doesn't even define its importance. From my point of view this is one of those pictures that comes once in a while and changes everything, it transcends every pattern you are familiar with, it seeks not to follow a defined path but to break all rules and create his own place in history. This is not a movie that lacks creativity, passion or energy, but a movie that combines them all to keep you at the edge of your seat from beginning to end. This is quite a feat for a drama/black comedy, where even the most entertaining action films fail to achieve.
The movie portrays Riggan Thomson (Michael Keaton) a former Hollywood has-been actor that turns to Broadway, desperate to be taken seriously again, to somehow salvage what has left of acting career, even though that comes to a question mark at some point when the NY Times theater critic Tabitha (Lindsay Duncan) refers to Riggan as being just a celebrity and not an actor. This phrase has more meaning than first thought, it's like a personification on today's Hollywood stage.
The camera-work is something quite remarkable, it brings a feeling of fluidity, an argument that acting, cinematography, the story, the characters, the music are all brought together and wouldn't be possible in its absence.
Acting is at its finest, none of the actors fails to deliver, with some surprising performances, such as Emma Stone, who at one point delivers one of those breathtaking monologues that cuts through like a sharp knife to the gut to all what's left of Riggan's self centered personality. Zach Galifianakis? Well who knew he could really act and still keep his funny persona. Yet, Michael Keaton steals the show with this one in a lifetime performance.
By casting Michael Keaton who in real life has played a similar role in two mega-grossing Batman films, directed by Tim Burton, and afterwards has found his career decline step by step to unknown brings a reality sort of feeling. It portrays a battle of a man against his ego, his past, his struggles to keep his family, his career and what's left of himself. It also evokes the seductions, fame and prestige for a man. There is a scene at one point when Riggan goes to his backstage room and breaks everything, erupting into a fight between his past glory days and the obscure present where everything seems to fall apart.