The Unexpected virtue of Abstraction

Rating: 8/10 (26 February 2015)

For the full review, go to https://scribblesofstageandscreen.wordpress.com/
After first viewing the trailer to Birdman or the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance, I was underwhelmed and slightly confused regarding the storyline. My opinion to see it wavered after viewing Margaret and David's unanimous 5 star review of it on their final episode of At the Movies. However I hadn't committed to seeing it until the recent Golden Globes, where Birdman was the subject of several nominations, wins and discussions. Although I am in no way undermining the quality of this film, there's potentially an alternative explanation behind Birdman's success at awards ceremonies. My mother's opinion is that everyone in the entertainment industry is vain and therefore loves to see a movie about themselves (particularly for those lucky few who get mentioned in the film). Although clearly not the only factor contributing to its success, there is some truth in the fact that awards judges would certainly relate to this film more than The Theory of Everything, for example. The film, (co-written, directed and produced by Alejandro G Iñárritu) depicts actor Riggan Thomson (Michael Keaton), at the lowest point of his life. He's haunted by his past glories playing comic book superhero in the famous 90's action trilogy of Birdman. Spurred by the realisation that he has achieved nothing since then, Riggan decides to write, direct, and star in a Broadway adaption of Raymond Carver's story, What We Talk About When We Talk About Love. The initial plot line follows the mould of many other inspirational films before it (Wild, Eat Pray Love, The Pursuit of Happiness, The Bucket List);
Protagonist finds oneself in a rut. Embarks on (often unrealistic) mission of self-discovery to revive their broken life. Experiences a creative array of complications preventing said protagonist from achieving goal. Protagonist discovers meaning of life/ their place in the world, in an unexpected way, often proving themselves to unsupportive others. Despite this seemingly simple plot line, Birdman's storyline feels anything but linear. Although it started with an obvious goal, and ended with a somewhat resolution, the complications in the middle got lost amongst the winding walking shots and mind-controlled tantrums. With that in mind, Iñárritu's unique directing style is not necessarily a bad thing. From the opening sequence, it's clear that Birdman is far from your average film. The Cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki and Editors Douglas Crise and Stephen Mirrione have combined lengthy one-take shots, shaky hand-held camera work and snappy editing to give the effect that whole film was shot in one take. The long-shot technique has been done before in Gravity, The Player, Children of men, Russian Ark and Goodfellas. However the combination of well-timed drum solos and Scorsese-esque walking-shots-from-behind, make Birdman stand out from the crowd. There are countless complications which prevent Riggan from putting on an award winning Broadway show to revive his career. There's the terrible lead actor, the method-acting dickhead that replaces him (Edward Norton), his financial problems and his relationship with his troubled daughter (Emma Stone) and ex-wife (Amy Ryan). Most of all is his existential crisis, which culminates into numerous arguments with his "Birdman" self. Jo Bradley https://scribblesofstageandscreen.wordpress.com/