The Expected Virtues of Iñarritu.

Rating: 10/10 (18 October 2019)

Birdman is an overall solid movie. To begin with, stellar performances from Michael Keaton, Edward Norton (in my opinion, the top performance of the film), Emma Stone, Naomi Watts and Zach Galifianakis, above others.
Alejandro Iñarritu has shown his voluminous set of skills throughout his whole career, but to my eyes, there is no better "One-Shot film" attempt than this one. It is known that only 16 cuts where needed for this seamless picture to look the way it does. His direction style is very original, using fast camera movement to create blurred motion, and other unusual techniques these days. This one-shot film has a motive, it was done to enhance what an experience at a theatre would be like. That, combined to the originality and forwardness in the script, prove Iñarritu as one of the most talented directors of the century (so far).
Lets continue with the acting. Michael Keaton earns his single oscar nomination of his career with the portrayal of Riggan Thompson, and the interventions of his alter ego, Birdman. I think he did a great job exposing true and relatable emotions. He was very dynamic and managed a decent relation with the minor fantastic aspects throughout the plot. Edward Norton does an utterly fine performance, even though, his character, Mike, has a similar personality to Norton's natural one. Emma Stone proves his talent once again, she plays the rehab-depressed daughter of Riggan, and she does it well. Though for me, she really clicks with her "Truth or Dare" relationship with Mike. Other minor characters are worth a mention as well, it is known that Galifianakis suffered the shortest amounts of flubs throughout shooting. Naomi Watts has always shown a bright side when working for Alejandro.
The use of color is fantastic. Cinematography has an extended variety of color use, not scrict at all and does magnificent shifts between contrasting tones such as neon reds and blues. Staging (on theatre) looked great, and the inside of the St. James was handled in a far creative manner. I think Cinematography is a very solid cornerstone for this film.
Music is marvelous, those jazzy drum beats along all the film set a very vibrant atmosphere for the story, and switches naturally to more laidback rythims when needed. Editing was nearly needed, it lasted only two weeks. Anyways, that is in gratitude of the magnificent job done by the camera crew and the actors.
In conclusion, Iñarritu surely deserves the awards earned for presenting us such a real and energetic experience. Of course, his starring actors get a huge part of the job done. With sublime direction and pacing, the story escalates and goes downhill in the most authentic of ways. I'm definitively looking forward on Alejandro's next picture.
10/10.