Icarus of La Mancha in Broadway

Rating: 9/10 (20 February 2015)

At the beginning a half naked protagonist (Keaton) appears levitating. I think these are two key elements of this film. We can wonder whether it is possible levitation in otherwise realistic pictures (Iñarritu's films are well known for their realism). And this reminds me of the narrative device for the end of Vittorio De Sica's classic film Miracolo in Milano; although Birdman subverts that order and takes the risks since its beginning. Could be called magic realism? Only up to reach half of the film. But I will leave the levitation superpower aside: is nudity, as a metaphor, other important theme. Because this story narrates the creative process of a theater company in the performance of a play (an adaptation of Carver's What we talk about when we talk about love) we will understand that undressing is the most valued virtue for an actor.
The protagonist levitates and bares. (The other actors in the play bare as well: even Edward Norton, in the same way that Keaton, appears in his undies in much of the film, but he does not levitate.) And after the first half of the movie his emotional strip has made it clear that the adapter-producer-actor was a fail as a husband, and is a failure in his current affair and, above all, he is a failure as a father. But a story rests not only in what a character is considered to be, but also in what he wants to demonstrate that he is. In this regard the plot of Birdman is a kind of tribute to Don Quixote. Not only the plot and theme (the struggle of one insane ambition against the surrounding reality), but also the overlapping of narrative plans. Because our Mexican brothers are among the best understanders of the Spanish literature masterpiece, Iñarritu has perfected a story in which the narrative of insanity mixes with the reality. And it can also be considered a cervantine plot because another fiction (the play) is presented in such a way that the film plot and the play plot sometimes mix.
The way chosen for filming creates a feeling of continuity by the simulation of a continuous shot. This fake continuous shot, kind of journey through labyrinthine corridors of the theater with a hypnotic soundtrack, provokes deep empathy for the actor-cavalier. The protagonist, after having stripped, has to deal with all adversity in his quest to demonstrate he is a genuine actor, and he will face a quixotic fate. I could advance (a kind of bizarre spoiler) that Miracolo in Milano will appear again.