Ambitious, audacious and soulful

Rating: 8/10 (6 January 2015)

Birdman is like being introduced to a new kind of music or experimental art form with its own internal rhythm. This is entirely due to its unique cinematography by the brilliant Emmanuel Lubezki and especially how it's edited to give the illusion of one continuous take. It helps create a loosely directed, loosely blocked film that feels so improvised yet is a work of incendiary intention.
If there is one quality that this film does not possess it's the ability to allow itself to settle. The long takes, tracking shots and lines of dialogue are so quick and snappy it doesn't allow the depth of the themes to grip the viewer in the way that it should. This I suspect will improve upon repeat viewings, yet is somewhat of a mitigating issue. There are also one or two moments that doe require the viewer to take a bit of a leap of faith and the suspension of disbelief. The screenplay is also wickedly funny; it contains many sharp unsettling one liners that provoke howls of searing laughter.
It has distant echoes of previous classic Hollywood movies about marginalized actors in the vein of "Sunset Boulevard" this frame of reference was also used in the overly adulated awards hit "The Artist". It has some of the psychological deliriousness and fantastical realism present in "Black Swan". There are also sprinklings of the hilarious calamity and opportunistic ambition of "The Producers" these as I have previously mentioned are but distant echoes. The film does feel totally unique and original; I can't say for certain if it makes the viewing experience of the film better or worse for the casual viewer.
The question that lies at its core is if its originality is what makes it a masterpiece or a floundering piece of pretentious comedy art. I personally really enjoyed it; it's a terrifically unique viewing experience, it may just prove irksome to the viewer with a passive interest unfortunately.
The standout performances here are those of Michael Keaton and Edward Norton. Keaton's character Riggan Thompson is "staging" one last attempt at relevancy by writing, directing, financing and starring in a Broadway adaptation of Raymond Carver's Novel "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love" Riggan is a washed up movie stay who acquired fame for playing the titular "Birdman" a series of superhero movies from the 90's. As Norton's character mentions in the film it's clear that "popularity is the slutty little cousin of prestige." The film contains some scathing indictments and lambasting of the critical community. Riggan berates a critic at one stage shouting about how all she cares about are buzzwords that help to sell magazines and that structure and technique are not evaluated and not given the appropriate weighting to form the critical consensus. This comes after the critic explains to Riggan how she detests his Hollywood acquired sense of self entitlement and self- importance with the lofty presumptions of Broadway success.
The interactions between Keaton and Norton's characters are also outstanding there are multiple occasions where they come to blows or get underneath each other's skin in the most childish and petty ways possible.
Norton plays a character that is largely a riff off of himself. He is a critically adored, egomaniacal actor one with a massive persona and is difficult to work with. Norton often gets drunk, criticizes the production at any given opportunity, sexually harasses and demeans the actresses and assistants both on and off stage. His drunken explosions of brutal, catastrophic obstinence are a sight to behold. Norton is the best he's been in years. Riggan's hallucinogenic breakdowns are also wonderful with his Birdman persona whispering murmurs of self-doubt in his ear. His alter ego declares his play to be overly pretentious with dumb lines such as "The kind of love I'm talking about is absolute" and "I don't exist". This sets Riggan into a hilarious downhill spiral of mindless delirium of all shades.
In essence Birdman is a movie that is hard to quantify because it contains so many elements that make it so wholly original yet are somewhat inherently problematic in certain small ways. It's not the seminal film for the industry, yet is one that is necessary to help shake up Hollywood's culture and the money grabbing image created movies that it produces. It has most certainly earned its reputation through its monstrously ambitious relentless technical prowess. It is backed up by a well observed, inspired and intelligent screenplay that adds a great amount of heft.